A 5-year-old Lionel Messi fan named Murtaza Ahmadi, who went viral in February after photos of him wearing a Messi jersey made out of a plastic bag surfaced online, has reportedly been forced to flee Afghanistan due to constant harassment from the Taliban. According to the Associated Press, Ahmadi and his family fled the country last week after receiving a series of threatening phone calls as well as a letter from the terrorist organization. Though the family did not wish to leave, they opted to make the move after threats intensified.
The boy's father, Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, told the AP that "life became a misery for us" after the calls started coming in. He also said he was afraid that his son would be kidnapped after he made the news wearing his homemade Messi jersey. The boy was later photographed with a signed jersey sent to him by Messi, who serves as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador:
While Ahmadi's father was initially unsure about who was behind the phone calls, he realized it was the insurgent group after being tipped off by a driver who delivered a letter to the family. That letter questioned the father's priorities with regards to his son's upbringing.
"The Taliban asked why my son was not learning the Quran [Islam's holy book] in an Islamic school," he told the AP, "and why I was instead allowing him and encouraging him to play football."
When the Taliban was governing Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, they banned people from taking part in several sports. But as ESPN points out, soccer wasn't one of them.
The Taliban hasn't claimed responsibility for the calls or letter, but for now, Ahmadi and his family are living in Pakistan.
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