The United States' Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has started an investigation concerning the friendly matches involving Lionel Messi from July 2012 to July 2013, which included games in Cancun(Mexico), Bogota(Colombia), Miami, Lima(Peru), Medellin(Colombia) and another game to be held in Los Angeles, which was ultimately cancelled.
The investigation was started by the Central Operative Unit of the Spanish Guardia Civil. This unit deals with money laundering cases, and started investigating Lionel Messi's foundation after rumors indicated some players were paid to play those matches, something Messi and some other Barcelona players such as Mascherano, Pinto and Dani Alves denied.
One of the players that was sought out to play these games was Robert Lewandowski. The tour managers contacted Mark Barthel, Lewandowski's agent, and offered the Polish international $250,000 dollars to play those games. The agent stated that he received an email where several perks were offered if the former Borussia Dortmund player agreed to participate.
"Our offer package consists primarily of two business-class tickets per player, accommodation in five-star hotels and a sum of money intended as compensation," the email read. After denying Lewandowski's involvement in such a "business model", Barthel said that he stopped answering his mobile phone whenever he saw a number from Argentina was calling.
Messi, during the game against the "Rest of the World" squad in Chicago.
Jorge Messi, the player's father, alongside sports promoter Guillermo Marin would be involved in the tour's organization. The DEA started digging into the tour files after Lionel Messi's tax evasion trial in Spain, with everything being linked to this matter.
