Wafa Media Foundation, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) group, has released a poster threatening to bring terror to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia that features an image of one of the world’s best player, Barcelona and Argentina star, Lionel Messi crying blood.
The image featured the tagline “Just Terrorism” underneath the image of Messi, who is depicted behind jail bars and wearing a jump suit with his name on it.
The poster also delivered a warning that “you are fighting a state that does not have failure in its dictionary.”
As noted by Marissa Payne of the Washington Post, this not the first piece of ISIS propaganda making reference to the World Cup.
Others had shown the tournament logo exploding into two pieces accompanied by phrases that included “we are the one who chooses the battlefield” and “I swear that the mujahideen’s fire will burn you, just you wait.”
Per Payne, the terrorist group also made threats to both the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the 2017 Women’s UEFA European Championship, though both tournaments passed without any attacks.
ISIS supporters had previously attacked stadiums, however, including the international match between France and Germany on November 13, 2015, the night of the ISIS-claimed shooting and suicide bomb attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, and a suicide bomb on an Iraqi stadium in March 2016 that killed 25 people
The World Cup is scheduled to begin on June 14 next summer, with 12 stadiums and 11 different cities to host matches. The final will take place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15.