Lionel Messi has led the entire Argentinian international squad in a media boycott.
Straight after Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Columbia the Barcelona ace led his team-mates into the media room while still wearing their playing kit.
The Argentinian squad have been on the receiving end of heavy media criticism but after the 3-0 weekend things reached a new depth when a radio station reported that one of the players smoked marijuana after a training session.
That claim proved to be one blow to low with Messi leading the protest straight after the win over Columbia.
“We have decided not to speak any more with the press,” Messi announced alongside 24 team-mates. “We’ve received many accusations, a lot of lack of respect and we never said anything.
“We’re very sorry it has to be like this but we have no option. We know there are lots of you who are not in the game of not showing us respect but getting into one’s personal life is very grave and that’s why we’re here.”
The media boycott is unlikely to be very effective with the players now returning to club football with the majority of the squad based in Europe.
The win over Columbia leaves Argentina in fifth place in the South American qualifiers- eight points behind Brazil and trailing behind Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile.
