Messi’s brother faces gun charge
Lionel Messi’s older brother is in hospital under police guard after being found adrift on his blood-splattered speedboat.
Matias Messi, 35, finished probat ion for i l lega l possession of a firearm just two months ago.
He has now been arrested on suspicion of another weapons offence.
The Argentinian is being detained at a clinic in Rosario. State prosecutors say they wanted to question him about a gun they found on the blood-stained boat, which they seized on the Parana river as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Prosecutors said he will be quizzed when he is “lucid, stable and able to give a statement”.
Messi was found with a broken jaw and nose and other facial injuries.
His lawyer said he suffered the injuries after the boat hit a sandbank and he smashed his head against the vessel’s windscreen.
In a statement, Messi’s family insisted Matias had not been carrying a gun.
They suggested the weapon may have been planted on him.
A fisherman helped Messi to the shore after finding him lying in a sleeping bag aboard the boat.
Last year, Messi was told to teach football as part of a probation order after being caught with a gun in his car.
Lionel has another older brother, Rodrigo and a younger sister, Marisol.