There can be no more Messis in Rosario, Argentina.
Officials in Lionel Messi’s hometown have passed a new law, which makes it illegal for parents to name their children after the city’s most celebrated son, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The ban applies to first names, as Rosario’s civil registry said it would lead to mass confusion.
Officials drafted the law after a man in the Argentinian province of Rio Grande (Patagonia), Hector Varela, successfully petitioned authorities in his region to permit him to name his son Messi Daniel Varela.
The civil registry in Rosario anticipates a flood of similar applications, so it decided to take a preemptive strike against a looming “social phenomenon.”
Messi, one of the greatest soccer players in history, currently stars for Spanish club FC Barcelona and Argentina’s national team. Messi led Argentina to a runner-up finish in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
