The good citizens of Rosario have been banned from naming their children after the Argentine superstar.
You know what it's like, a superstar is all over the news and suddenly, every baby born is named after them. There are suburbs in Dublin with kids answering to the names of Pocahontas, Beyonce, Rihanna and Pitbull. The people of Rosario, the city of Lionel Messi's birthplace, have seemingly been clamouring to follow suit and name their kids after the Barcelona legend.
However,
according to Mundo Deportivo, a law has been passed by officials in Rosario to prevent parents from giving their child the first name Messi. The reason is unclear - something has been mentioned about not wanting to use a family name as a first name - but we can only assume that the city wishes to protect the identity of their most famous son.
One crafty father beat the officials to it, however, and named his son Messi so now there is a little Messi Varela walking (probably crawling in fairness) the mean streets of Rosario.
Oddly enough, there have been no reports of parents naming their children 'Lionel'. Even Messi himself is said to be freaked about that and has asked his close pals to call him 'Pitbull'... allegedly.
Hat-tip: Screamer
