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A former referee has admitted to have spared Lionel Messi from a second yellow card in return for his match-worn shirt.
Chilean refereee, Carlos Chandía, has confessed to having purposefully avoided giving Messi a booking. And all in the plan to receive the Argentine’s jersey at the end of a match.
Chandía was in charge of the 2007 Copa America semifinal match between Argentina and Mexico, with the Albiceleste blowing past El Tri with a 3-0 scoreline. 20-year-old Messi scored a beautiful lob to seal his country’s spot in the final.
However and despite there being no threat to the scoreline in the closing minutes of the game, Messi was inches away from being sent off and missing his first-ever major tournament final with Argentina. Chandía, in return for his match-worn memorabilia, spared the Argentine of the booking.
Referee confesses sparing Messi from yellow card to receive his match-worn jersey
In an interview with ESPN, Chandia explained that in an abrupt play in the closing moments of the match, Messi touched the ball with his hand — meriting a second yellow that would have left him off the squad for the 2007 Copa América final.
"There were two-and-a-half minutes left, and the score was 3-0. Out of nowhere, Messi receives 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.
“Showing him a yellow card would have taken away his chance of playing in the Copa America final,” the Chilean referee shockingly reveled.
Watch the sequence below:
Chandía’s shocking offer was, of course, accepted by Messi who immediately offered the referee the jersey at the final whistle. Chandía refused and told him to rather give him the shirt inside the dressing room.
“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; I’ll wait for it in the dressing room. And he came to the dressing room with the jersey and left it there for me,” said Chandía.
Chandia has also revealed that the jersey is now in the possession of his son.
IMPERDIBLE CONFESIÓN: 17 años después, el chileno Carlos Chandía contó que "ayudó" a Leo Messi para que pueda estar en la final de la Copa América 2007... ¡No le sacó la segunda amarilla a cambio de su camiseta! Eso le terminaría costando no ser el árbitro de la definición. pic.twitter.com/tyosaQ8156
— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) September 19, 2024
Not showing Messi his second yellow wasn’t all but a good decision, though, as the referee believes his ‘exchange’ affected his exclusion from refereeing the tournament’s final.
“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,” Chandía added.
Argentina, with Messi on the pitch, would go on to lose 3-0 against Brazil in the final, with the FC Barcelona youngster’s presence having little, to no impact.
