Lionel Messi's brother Matias has backtracked after making the shock claim that Barcelona are only known because of the Paris Saint-Germain superstar.
Earlier this week, Matias had suggested, via his son's Twitch channel, that the Blaugrana only became prominent in the football world because of his superstar brother.
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"I don't know about you, but Barcelona became known thanks to Messi," he said during a live stream, per Goal.
"Nobody knew about them before.
"Whoever's had the chance to go to Barcelona and see the museum, you can see that the museum is Messi."
His words fuelled speculation there is a rift between Barca president Joan Laporta and Messi, with the player's brother also saying the Argentina captain would "kick" the president out if he returned to the Camp Nou following his shock departure from the Catalans in 2021.
These comments, among a few others, were met with a lot of criticism, with many deeming them to be disrespectful towards the Catalan giants.
Messi's entourage later moved to distance themselves from Matias' opinions, insisting that the player does not share the same views.
Matias appears to have had a change of heart since, and has apologised for his comments.
"I want to apologise for what I said on social media, I was just joking with my son and friends," he wrote on Instagram, per Barca Universal.
"How can I think like that about a club as great as Barcelona, which has given so much to my family and Leo.
"I want to say sorry to everyone, specifically to all Barcelona fans."
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It remains to be seen if the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner, whose contract with PSG is set to expire in June, will ever return to the Spanish club, but Laporta has previously insisted he is open to the idea.
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