A bid to sign Barcelona's Lionel Messi has led to the suspension of the president of a French village side. Cédric Enjolras, the president of FC Borne, a second division team in the Haute-Loire league, made the official offer to Barcelona this week. It may have been a joke but the French Football Federation has failed to see the funny side.
Borne, who are based in a village of 400 inhabitants, were looking to add the 2009 and 2010 world player of the year to their ranks but were blocked by France's governing body. The transfer offer was intercepted by the player registration office of the FFF, which refused to submit it to the Spanish FA. Although Barcelona were not exactly likely to accept the bid, they were denied the opportunity to even read it.
But the killjoys did not stop there. Enjolras has been suspended from his position for six months.
"One cannot accept such behaviour. It is perhaps a joke but we are here to judge the facts," said Yves Begon, the head of the FFF registration office.
Enjolras, bemused by the FFF's lack of proportion, explained what had happened: "To submit bids among small clubs, you need to fill out forms on the internet. I decided to register a bid so I typed the name Lionel Messi, his date of birth and his parent club into the system. Then the league transmitted the request to the federation. They were shocked by it and refused to send it to their Spanish counterparts. I have been suspended for six months, of which three are suspended. It was just a joke, to amuse friends.
"I'm going to have spend three months in the bar."
Every cloud has a silver lining.
