In the early morning hours of March 2nd, shortly before 3 a.m., two armed men on a
motorcycle stopped in front of a supermarket in Rosario, Argentina and opened fire.
The building was empty and nobody was hurt, but the Associated Press reported
that the gunmen riddled the premises with bullets and left behind a sinister note.
It read:
“Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is also a drug trafficker, he won’t protect you.”
What did it mean? Who is Javkin? And how does it impact Messi and his future?
For Rosario locals, the news about fourteen bullets ripping through an
empty supermarket wasn’t a random shooting. The shooters’ target, Supermercado Único,
is owned and operated by the family of Antonela Rocuzzo, who is Lionel Messi’s wife.
It was also just the latest instance of organized crime and gangland violence, which has led to over
50 homicides in the city already this year. In 2022, there were 270. Despite being three
times as large, there were just 88 homicides in Buenos Aires during the same time period.
It means that Rosario, the birthplace of Messi and where his parents and in-laws still reside,
has the unwanted title of being Argentina’s most violent city.
That last line of the note left by the gunmen was
possibly a reference to that – and to Pablo Javkin, Rosario’s mayor,
who immediately condemned the attack and said that Rosario is “a laboratory” for criminal activity.
He also pointed the finger at local law enforcement for failing to protect the city.
The intention behind the attack is unclear. It’s speculated to have
been aimed more at Javkin than Messi – that it was less a threat to the player,
and more a brutal demonstration of the mayor’s failure to provide adequate security in the city.
Conversely, it’s also been theorised that targeting Messi at the zenith of his popularity
is a show of strength that demonstrates to the world just how powerful the narcos are in Rosario,
while also proving that nobody – not even Messi and his extended family - is beyond their reach.
A further suggestion is that Messi is being reminded of his vow to return home and
urged - less than subtly - to make good on it. Other commentators have offered a simpler
explanation: that Messi would be returning to a place where he would need allies,
with the supermarket shooting serving to demonstrate his vulnerability.
There remains no conclusive answer. Nothing but speculation and innuendo.
Nevertheless, the shooting quickly became world news while simultaneously causing a
political controversy in Argentina. When the nation’s defense minister Aníbal Fernández
told reporters after the shooting that “the narcos have won,” it painted an
ugly picture of the instability in one of Argentina’s most fabled football cities.
Just a few weeks before, in January 2023, Jimi Altamirano, a 28-year-old music teacher
and juggler, was walking home after a band rehearsal, when a car stopped next to him and
he was kidnapped. Minutes later, he was found dead. at the entrance to Newell’s stadium.
Altamirano had no known links to drugs or violence, but he was found with a
letter addressed to members of both a local drug cartel and Newell’s Old Boys
ultras. His body had been dumped in front of Newell’s stadium, named after Marcelo Bielsa.
In the wake of the murder, Santa Fe’s provincial Security Minister and the
head of the provincial police force were both dismissed in response to growing lawlessness.
In early March, to the fury of locals,
a 12-year-old boy was shot and killed during a confrontation between rival
gangs. Three other children were wounded by what was described as “a hail of bullets”.
So, the picture is extremely bleak,
but Rosario is still one of South America’s great football cities.
It’s home to Newell’s Old Boys and Rosario Central — two fierce rivals with rich histories who divide
the city’s football loyalties. Newell’s home ground bears the name of Bielsa,
but a tier of the stadium is dedicated to Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who starred as a
player for the club and led Newell’s to a league championship as a manager in 2013.
Rosario Central can claim World Cup winners Mario Alberto Kempes and Ángel Di Maria as club legends,
among other greats. Messi, however, is far and away Rosario’s most famous son. He joined
Newell’s as a six-year-old in 1994, dazzling local crowds with hundreds of goals and silky dribbling
until he departed for Barcelona five years later.
Messi has never shied from talking about a romantic return to his boyhood club.
“Even as time has passed, my desire to (play for Newell’s) remains intact,” Messi
told Argentina’s Sportia shortly before the 2018 World Cup in Russia. “I’ve always said
that I’d love to play for Newell’s. It’s something that I still have left to do.”
Before the supermarket shooting, Messi’s Newell’s return wasn’t entirely implausible.
After leading Argentina to a Copa América title in 2021, Messi was finally hailed as a hero.
Previously, he had never replicated his European success with his country, nor always produced his
very best form. In addition to which, having left Argentina at such a young age to move
to Spain and sign for Barcelona, to some he was always more Catalonian than Argentinian.
Now, that’s changed. Triumph in Qatar further elevated Messi to legend status,
lifting him – inarguably – into the stratosphere occupied by Diego Maradona.
He had finally connected with the people of Argentina and,
potentially, set the stage for the most triumphant of returns to Rosario.
He retains plenty of options in Europe and the extension of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain
remains a possibility, but having now quite literally won everything European and World
football has to offer, he could have returned to Argentina with nothing left to achieve.
This latest act of violence, however, may have prevented
that return to Rosario from happening – or at least made it far less likely.
“This doesn’t only affect Leo’s return. It affects everyone,” said Newell’s manager,
Gabriel Heinze in response to the supermarket shooting.
“There’s no doubt that this distances Leo (from Newell’s) and anyone else.”