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River Plate have apologised for the behaviour of their supporters towards Lionel Messi at an airport in Tokyo amid reports he was spat at following Barcelona’s 3-0 victory in the Club World Cup final.
A number of fans found themselves close to a group of Barça players and began hurling insults and abuse at, among other Messi and Javier Mascherano, promoting the intervention of the manager, Luis Enrique, to stop the incident escalating.
The River Plate statement read: “In relation to the attacks on Lionel Messi at Narita airport, Club Atlético River Plate condemns all forms of violence and wishes to apologise to the player and Barcelona. River Plate congratulate Barcelona on winning the 2015 Club World Cup, held in Japan.”
Barcelona had claimed a comfortable 3-0 win in Tokyo with Messi scoring the opening goal before two more from Luis Suárez. Messi has often been criticised for failing to replicate his Barcelona form for the national team but the River Plate president, Rodolfo D’Onofrio, was similarly critical of the behaviour of his club’s fans.
“There’s always one idiot, to use a more polite way of describing these people. I’ve only just read that Messi was given problems by a fan at the airport who had drunk more than he should have … and did something stupid against Messi. Messi is the best player in Argentine football, he’s a gentleman,” D’Onofrio told Fox Sports Show.
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