The case dates back to 2014, when Messi captained Argentina at the World Cup. After his side lost 0-1 to Germany, Messi copped a lot of flack. The skipper won the Player of the Tournament Award in Brazil, but that was obviously not good enough for the Argentinean media.

In an opinion piece for the paper, Alfonso Ussia suggested that Messi wore a wig and used the performance-enhancing drug Nandrolone. While that’s not exactly what you’d call astute punditry, everyone is allowed their opinion to an extent.

Courts have now ruled that the piece went “way beyond what was acceptable and what could even be considered journalistic licence”.

The court described some content in the article as “unnecessary and impertinent for the exposition of the ideas or opinions that the journalist attempts to transmit in the article, and are objectively insulting and offensive despite the dimension of the player’s public image and the pluralism, tolerance and open spirit which should reign in a modern society”.

Ussia, La Razón and the paper’s editor were ordered to pay just under €65,000 to the 28-year-old, which Messi donated to charity. DM