Referee admits he made controversial Lionel Messi decision to barter for his shirt

Lionel Messi was offered the chance to play in the 2007 Copa America final against Brazil by a former referee in exchange for his match-worn shirt. Carlos Chandia has recounted the critical moment when he overlooked what should have been a yellow card for the Argentine wizard during the semi-final against Mexico, which could have seen Messi suspended for the final showdown with Brazil.

Argentina cruised past Mexico with a comfortable 3-0 win, powered by goals from Gabriel Heinze, Messi himself and Juan Roman Riquelme. Yet, Messi’s participation in the tournament finale was hanging by a thread after he committed a handball in midfield.

Facing a potential ban due to card accumulation, the forward found himself in a unique bargaining situation with referee Chandia. The official has admitted that instead of following the letter of the law, he sought a different kind of penalty: Messi’s shirt.

During an appearance on the ESPN FShow, Chandia said: “Out of nowhere, Messi lifts a ball and touches it with his hand, but in the middle of the pitch. There was no goal-scoring chance for the Mexican team or anything like that. So, I told him: ‘This is a yellow card, but it will cost you your jersey,’ and I didn’t show him the yellow card. 

“There were two-and-a-half minutes left, and the score was 3-0. Showing him a yellow card would would have taken away his chance of playing in the Copa America final.”

Chandia also claims that the decision led him to not being selected to oversee the Copa America final, but Messi stayed ‘true’ to his word and gave him his jersey after the contest, reports the Mirror.

He went on: “He gave me the shirt in the dressing room afterwards. In fact, he wanted to take it off on the pitch and I told him: ‘No, no, no, no; take it to the dressing room’. And he came to the dressing room with the jersey and left it there for me.”

Chandia also admitted back in 2020 that his son now has the shirt, while also weighing in on why he wasn’t selected for the final of the tournament. He told TNT Chile: “I don’t remember the number, but I remember the smell. Not the best. My son has it now, he keeps it. The truth is that I think that because I didn’t give him the yellow card, Brazilians ended up saying something and that’s why I wasn’t the main referee of the Copa America final.”

Messi’s first Copa America final in 2007 didn’t go as planned for Argentina. Brazil’s Julio Baptista scored the opening goal just four minutes into the match with a beautifully curled shot inside the Argentinian box before  Roberto Ayala doubled Brazil’s lead with an unfortunate own-goal at the 40-minute mark, trying to block a cross but instead sending the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Brazil’s Dani Alves sealed the victory 69 minutes into the game, breaking through the defence and striking the ball with his right foot to make it 3-0. Messi had to wait until 2021 to win his first Copa America with Argentina, finally getting revenge over Brazil with a 1-0 victory at the Estadio do Maracana, thanks to a 22nd-minute goal from Angel Di Maria.