The striker is reportedly in hot water with his girlfriend after Argentina’s Pronto magazine pictured the star with his hands wrapped around the woman’s hips while looking at her chest
Shaun Botterill
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas... unless you're Lionel Messi.
The superstar footballer has found himself in hot water after being caught eyeing up a stripper while on tour in Sin City.
The Barcelona striker, who last year became a dad, was pictured nuzzling the blonde dancer in a Las Vegas nightclub.
The photographs, published by Argentina’s Pronto magazine, showed the £250,000 per week star with his hands wrapped around the woman’s hips while looking at her chest.
The dramatic headline reads "The Photo That Puts Lionel Messi's Marriage At Risk".
It is claimed Messi is now in crisis talks with his girlfriend Antonella Racuzzo, 25, after she saw the pictures.
A source close to the magazine said: “There is nothing to suggest anything more happened but still Antonella is furious.
“She can’t believe he has been so stupid and feels very let down by Leo.
“Whether she’ll give him the red card or not remains to be seen but it’s fair to say the sofa may be getting a lot of use at the moment.”
Alongside the pictures, Pronto wrote: “Lio and Antonella, the mother of his son Thiago, are today living through their most serious crisis.”
Messi, 26, was reported to be in Las Vegas at the start of July to star as guest of honour at a party hosted by Brazilian legend Ronaldo at the Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort.
It is understood the photographs were taken that evening.
The footballer, who is preparing for next year’s World Cup in Brazil, then headed off to Chicago for the last exhibition match in his ‘Messi and Friends’ benefit tour.
The 5ft 7ins forward has known Antonella since the age of five although it wasn’t until 2009 they began dating.
Last November she gave birth to the couple’s son after announcing she was pregnant on her Twitter page.
In April they posted a picture of Thiago on Facebook.
The Argentinian captain, who has twice lifted Spain’s Copa del Rey trophy, is already in hot water as he and his father Jorge Horacio are being investigated over an alleged £3.4million tax fraud.
They have been accused of filing false tax returns between 2006 and 2009.
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office for tax crimes in Catalonia, Spain, claimed the pair used companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Messi’s image.
By using firm’s outside of Spain, where he lives and plays football, he and his father avoided paying tax.
The World Player of the Year earns £12.5million a season.
He also pulls in around £13million a year in sponsorship deals with Adidas, PepsiCo and others.
If the case went to trial and he was convicted, Messi could face up to six years in prison. But the striker, who won a fourth Ballon D’Or this year, yesterday insisted he was innocent.
He wrote on Facebook: “We’ve never committed any infringement. We’ve always fulfilled our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants who will clarify the situation.”
The Argentine is considered by many as football’s greatest ever player and in 2012 scored a record
86 goals for club and country in one calendar year.
The superstar footballer has found himself in hot water after being caught eyeing up a stripper while on tour in Sin City.
The Barcelona striker, who last year became a dad, was pictured nuzzling the blonde dancer in a Las Vegas nightclub.
The photographs, published by Argentina’s Pronto magazine, showed the £250,000 per week star with his hands wrapped around the woman’s hips while looking at her chest.
The dramatic headline reads "The Photo That Puts Lionel Messi's Marriage At Risk".
It is claimed Messi is now in crisis talks with his girlfriend Antonella Racuzzo, 25, after she saw the pictures.
A source close to the magazine said: “There is nothing to suggest anything more happened but still Antonella is furious.
“She can’t believe he has been so stupid and feels very let down by Leo.
“Whether she’ll give him the red card or not remains to be seen but it’s fair to say the sofa may be getting a lot of use at the moment.”
Alongside the pictures, Pronto wrote: “Lio and Antonella, the mother of his son Thiago, are today living through their most serious crisis.”
Messi, 26, was reported to be in Las Vegas at the start of July to star as guest of honour at a party hosted by Brazilian legend Ronaldo at the Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort.
It is understood the photographs were taken that evening.
The footballer, who is preparing for next year’s World Cup in Brazil, then headed off to Chicago for the last exhibition match in his ‘Messi and Friends’ benefit tour.
The 5ft 7ins forward has known Antonella since the age of five although it wasn’t until 2009 they began dating.
Last November she gave birth to the couple’s son after announcing she was pregnant on her Twitter page.
In April they posted a picture of Thiago on Facebook.
The Argentinian captain, who has twice lifted Spain’s Copa del Rey trophy, is already in hot water as he and his father Jorge Horacio are being investigated over an alleged £3.4million tax fraud.
They have been accused of filing false tax returns between 2006 and 2009.
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office for tax crimes in Catalonia, Spain, claimed the pair used companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Messi’s image.
By using firm’s outside of Spain, where he lives and plays football, he and his father avoided paying tax.
The World Player of the Year earns £12.5million a season.
He also pulls in around £13million a year in sponsorship deals with Adidas, PepsiCo and others.
If the case went to trial and he was convicted, Messi could face up to six years in prison. But the striker, who won a fourth Ballon D’Or this year, yesterday insisted he was innocent.
He wrote on Facebook: “We’ve never committed any infringement. We’ve always fulfilled our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants who will clarify the situation.”
The Argentine is considered by many as football’s greatest ever player and in 2012 scored a record
86 goals for club and country in one calendar year.
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