An Argentine DJ has gone to great lengths to defend himself after being blamed for Lionel Messi contracting COVID-19.
Messi was back in his native Argentina for Christmas and New Year, bringing in 2022 by hosting a party in Rosario.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner was seen dancing with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo at the bash and just days later, it emerged he was one of four PSG players to test positive for COVID following the winter break.
DJ Fer Palacio was invited to provide the music for the event and posted a picture of he and Messi on his Instagram page.
But then when Messi's positive test came to light, Palacio received death threats from fans and was branded "an assassin" amongst other insults.
He felt the need to clear things up and shared a selfie shot video of him explaining he did not give Messi the virus.
Talking to his 1 million followers on Instagram, Palacio said: "I’ve just got up and seen I’ve got a lot of messages and am trending on social media because Messi tested positive for Covid and people are saying I gave it to him.
"I’ve got loads of private messages and people have even gone as far as calling me an assassin.
"I had done a Covid test yesterday because I have to travel to Uruguay tomorrow and I haven’t got Covid.
"I’ll show you all now.”
Palacio then posted a screenshot of his negative COVID-19 PCR test result as proof.
He had previously shared the snap of him posing next to Messi, with the caption: "I got the greatest to dance - Thanks to all the Messi family for the invitation."
Topics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina