French TV station uses photo of Lionel Messi lookalike for news report

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French broadcaster M6 has been left red-faced after it mistakenly used an image of a Lionel Messi doppelgänger instead of the the soccer superstar for its news report.

During its Saturday lunchtime news bulletin, M6 reported on how the world's biggest sports stars are making large donations to causes dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

M6 thought it paired a snap of Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer with a picture of Messi to support the story - but the TV station actually used a picture of Messi's Iranian lookalike in his place.

Journalisme 2.0 ne pas reconnaître Messi de son sosie ! Incroyable M6. Une honte 🤦🏻‍♂️ #m6 #messi #don #sosie 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/9vF7juZPOd

— Nordine8833 (@Chamakh8833) March 28, 2020

The Messi lookalike in question is Reza Parastesh, who hails from Iran and came to global attention three years ago for his incredible resemblance to the Barcelona legend.

Messi does deserve the credit that M6 were giving him, or trying to, for his noble contribution to the fight against COVID-19.

Earlier this week, the 32-year-old donated €1 million, which is being split between a hospital in Barcelona and another in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.

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