Barcelona forward Lionel Messi's gesture to donate a pair of his boots
to a Saudi television station for a charity auction has caused
controversy in Egypt after a member of parliament and the federation
president said the gift was insulting.
According to a report in Ahram Online,
the Argentina striker agreed to a request from a journalist on the
Saudi channel MBC Masr's show "Yes, I am famous," to donate a pair of
his boots for charity auction.
The channel mainly targets an Egyptian
audience and the interview aired last weekend.
Egyptian Parliament member Said Hasasin said he was so offended by
the gesture that he took off his shoes during his evening TV show and
said he would donate them to Argentina, the report said.
"We [Egyptians] have never been humiliated during our seven thousand
years of civilisation... I will hit you with the shoes, Messi," Hasasin
said during his show as he took his shoe off and held it up on the air.
"This is my shoe. I donate it to Argentina."
Egyptian Football Association official Azmy Megahed called in to the
programme as well, saying: "Our poor don't need him. Work shoes for
him."
"I am confused, if he intends to humiliate us, then I say he better
put these shoes on his head and on the heads of the people supporting
him.
We don't need his shoes and we don't need charity from Jewish or
Israeli people. Give your shoes to your country, Argentina is full of
poverty" Megahed said, according to the report.
Former Egypt international and Ex-Tottenham and Celta Vigo forward Mido, defended Messi via Twitter.
Mona El-Sharkawy, the reporter who conducted the interview, for which
Messi answered his questions in Spanish, said it was not true that
Messi asked that his shoes be donated to charity.
"That is false," she said, according to the report in Marca.
"On our show we always request a souvenir from the people we interview
and we put those things up for auction for charity. I am shocked by what
has happened. Messi never said he was going to donate his boots to
charity in Egypt."
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