AN Argentinian sports reporter has shutdown suggestion that she has had an affair with Lionel Messi.
Journalist Sofi Martinez has told of the pain that “ridiculous” rumours have caused her and her family.
Martinez is a top presenter and reporter in Argentina where she has gained attention for her work with ESPN and TV Publica.
She has worked on the Olympics, Formula One and Champions League amongst other top sporting events.
And her time covering the Argentinian national team has meant she has had the opportunity to interview Lionel Messi on multiple occasions.
However, it’s those strictly professional meetings that have sparked rumours of a romance despite Messi’s seven-year marriage to his childhood sweetheart Antonela Roccuzzo, 36.
Swirling fan theories clung on to “flirtatious glances” between the pair to start rumours that Martinez and Messi had more than a professional relationship.
But the reporter has rubbished those claims in an interview on ‘PH: Podemos Hablar’ on Argentinian channel, Telefe.
She said: “A lot of the time when your exposure increases, it brings things that aren’t so good and my family suffers a lot.
“This year, people began to talk more and more about, “What’s up with the way he looks at you,” things like this, and I was caught in the middle of something that made me feel ridiculous to have to clarify.”
Martinez went on to suggest that is is her gender that leaves fans asking questions of her interactions with Messi, explaining that it wouldn’t happen if a male reporter was asking questions of the Inter Miami star.
Messi, 37, and wife Antonela have made no comment on the rumours.
The happy couple have been married since 2017 and now have three sons together, Thiago, 12, Mateo, nine, and Ciro, six.
The pair are believed to have started dating back in 2007, while they had been good friends since they first met as kids.
Rumours around an alleged affair with Martinez stretch back years with close friend, and wife of Cesc Fabregas, Daniella Semaan slamming the initial reports from Brazilian outlet Direto Do Miolo in 2023.
Semaan said: “What publication is this that has no meaning.. and has nothing right.”
