Argentine football icon Lionel Messi must have been quite astonished and rushed to his trophy case to check it when the prestigious award he had just received seemingly ended up in the hands of Nigerian comedian Erekere.
However, the fans of the Argentine can rest assured that this is only the plot of the Nigerian prankster's new sketch, in which he steals the Ballon d'Or from Messi.
In the video, a caught Erekere, also known as Pastor Pikin, admits to the man who caught him red-handed that he "committed the crime" to give a reward to Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, a frequent trolling target of netizens for his sometimes clumsy actions on the field.
However, the man who caught him off guard warned the comedian that his prank would land him in jail.
Perhaps, parting with the latest Golden Ball is no great loss for Messi: the 36-year-old Inter Miami player has already won seven of the prestigious awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021, making him the record holder.
His closest rival is the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the coveted award five times.
Last year, Messi won the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina, and was awarded the best player of the tournament.