The family of an Afghan boy who captured the world’s attention with his Messi football shirt made from a plastic bag are living in fear that the Taliban will kill them, his mother has said.
Murtaza Ahmadi, nicknamed ‘Little Messi’, moved the world in 2016 when a picture emerged of him wearing a blue and white striped plastic bag with Barcelona great Lionel Messi’s name in pen on the back.
The photograph caused a viral sensation and the seven-year-old was even invited to meet his idol and given two signed shirts and an autographed football.
But this was also the day things started to get worse for his family.
When the Taliban invaded his home district of Jaghori in Ghazni province, they banned residents from playing football. They weren’t even allowed to leave their homes unauthorized.
Murtaza, by then well-known at home and abroad, became an easy target because of his fame.
His mother Shafiqa told CNN: ‘From the day Murtaza became famous, life became difficult for our family.
‘Not only the Taliban, but some other groups also started thinking that Messi might have given him a lot of money.
‘We stopped sending him to school, and we were being threatened all the time.’
He was forced to flee after the Taliban warned they will ‘cut him to pieces’ if they capture him.
‘The Taliban were killing our relatives and they were searching houses. They would stop cars and kill their passengers, searching houses and killing people,’ Murtaza told CNN.
‘We used to hear the sound of heavy machine guns, and Kalashnikovs, and rockets at home. We also heard people screaming.’
Murtaza and Shafiqa eventually escaped to the city of Bamyan and later to the capital Kabul, but they haven’t seen Murtaza’s father since the day they fled and can only speak to him on the phone.
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‘It would have been better if Murtaza hadn’t gained fame,’ Shafiqa said.
She revealed that she lives in fear of her son being kidnapped because of his association with the millionaire Argentinian footballer.
But Shafiqa appealed to Messi once again, this time to help the family leave Afghanistan so that Murtaza can have a better future.
‘When I was in my hometown, I was not able to wear my Messi jersey because I was afraid someone will hurt me. I want to be taken from this country because there is fighting in here. I want to become a football player like Messi and play with Messi.’ Murtaza told CNN.
