Spanish football legend Cesc Fabregas is the latest figure to chime into the remarkable row between boxing titan Canelo Alvarez and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
The former Barcelona icon scored the vital goal in Argentina's recent 2-0 World Cup victory over Mexico, the home country of Alvarez, which has placed a huge dent in El Tri's hopes of progressing past the group stage. However, it wasn't the result that upset the boxing great, it was Messi's conduct in the dressing room at full-time.
Video footage captured scenes of La Albiceleste's stars celebrating, during which Messi appeared to kick a Mexico jersey away that was left on the changing room floor. This has riled Alvarez beyond belief, as his astonishing Twitter meltdown proved.
The Mexican wrote: "Did you guys see Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag, He better pray to God that I don't find him.
"Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico!" the boxer went on. "I'm not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls**t that Messi did."
Fabregas, a former teammate of Messi's at the Camp Nou and a close friend, has seen the remarkable rant and responded in defence of the current Paris Saint-Germain superstar.
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"You neither know the person nor do you understand how a locker room works or what happens after a game," the ex-Spain international bemoaned.
"All T-shirts, even the ones we wear ourselves, go on the floor and are washed afterwards. And more when you celebrate an important victory."
The ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star wasn't the only one to address Alvarez's claims, with Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero adding: "Mr Canelo, don't look for excuses or problems, surely you don't know about soccer and what happens in a locker room.
"The shirts are always on the floor after the games are over due to sweat and then if you see well, he makes the movement to remove the boot and accidentally hits it."
The situation has sparked plenty of discussion on Twitter, though most of the comments are blasting Alvarez for misjudging the situation, with even some Mexican supporters conceding one of their biggest sporting icons got this one wrong.
One supporter wrote on Twitter: "They want to break [Messi's] balls and take everything out of context, they are in the locker room celebrating and they are taking off their boots. Messi is the most humble and never denigrated anyone."
Messi broke Mexican hearts on Saturday night with his left-footed rifled effort nestling into the bottom corner just after the hour mark that unlocked what was up to that point a resilient defence.
It kept Argentina's World Cup hopes alive while all but ending Mexico's.
