Lionel Messi mocked for scruffy appearance during visit to Gabon

The Barcelona star was asked to visit the West African state by the president as a symbolic gesture at the site of a new football stadium in the city of Port-Gentil.

The Argentina striker, who has won the Ballon d'Or four times in his career to mark his status as the best footballer in the world, arrived in torn denim shorts and a t-shirt to meet a delegation of officials.

Joined by former Barcelona star Deco, Messi lay the first stone on the construction site for the new stadium - something which president Ali Bongo was delighted to take credit for.

"When I was in Barcelona a few years ago, I met Messi who had told me that he would come to visit me in Libreville," said President Bongo.

"It's a promise he had made me and he is a man of honour, who just kept his word."

While Messi's appearance made him the figure of fun for many, there were some who felt it showed a poor attitude towards Gabon for what was a big event.

A statement from the Union du Peuple Gabonais (UPG) party read: "The messiah of football arrived in Gabon like he were going to a zoo: dirty, unshaven and his hands in his pockets, looking for peanuts to throw to them!

"When you're called Lionel Messi and you're a multi-billionaire, you don't have the right to present yourself to officials of a republic, even a banana one, with your hands in the pockets of a ripped, tattered pair of shorts.

"Gabon isn't a zoo. We don't know what the Argentine came to Gabon for, but we at least have the right to denounce his negligence and his lack of respect for standards and principles. We are uneasy with Messi's attitude and his attire. Only for these reasons, linked to respect for the host country, do we condemn the footballer's indelicateness, to say the least!"