No evidence supports a rumor that Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi is related to Gerhard Bohne, a Nazi who was extradited from Argentina in the 1960s. There is no evidence of close or distant family links to Bohne. Journalists Guillem Balagué (here) and Luca Caioli (lucacaioli.com/libros/messi/), who have both written biographies of Messi, told Reuters the rumor about Bohne is unfounded. Caioli said the Messi family is from the Italian region of Marche and that claims regarding a purported link to Bohne “do not add up.”Messi’s representative declined to provide a comment on the claim. There is no evidence of a family connection between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Nazi Gerhard Bohne.

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