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Lionel Messi was in Gabon earlier this week as a part of a five day visit to Africa and the soccer star’s attire caused one political party to throw a fit.

Granted, Messi was wearing jorts and a t-shirt to meet President Ali Bongo Ondimba, which most likely violates some sort of decorum.

The Union du Peuple Gabonais (UGP) party issued a rather colorful statement on the fashion faux-pas, calling the Barcelona star “dirty” and “unshaven.”

“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!”

To be fair to the UPG, jorts deserve to be condemned at every opportunity.

[Deadspin]