Messi fan forced to leave Afghan home

Kabul

Mohammad Arif Ahmadi whose son grabbed headlines when he was photographed wearing a homemade Argentina shirt with No 10 on the back says they have moved to Pakistan and settled in the city of Quetta, hoping for a better life there. Ahmadi spoke to The Associated Press over the telephone from Quetta on Tuesday. He says he feared that his son, Murtaza Ahmadi, would be kidnapped after becoming an internet sensation after pictures of him wearing a Messi shirt made out of a striped plastic bag went viral. He also felt “life became a misery for us.”

The father said he sold all his belongings and moved out of Afghanistan in order to save the lives of his entire family. He said he constantly feared his son, Murtaza Ahmadi, would be kidnapped after a photograph of him wearing a Messi shirt made out of a plastic bag went viral. Messi, who saw the post, sent the boy two autographed shirts and a football.