RR-01

Not independently verified: River Plate refused to pay for the treatment.

Not independently verifiedReported — single sourceNot found

Why the claim spread

Originator: Retrospective participant accounts; no contemporaneous document identified.
Basis claimed: Recollection.

What the record does not support

No contemporaneous River Plate document located.
No 2000-01 press report located.

Canonical safe wording

By several later accounts, River Plate declined to fund the hormone treatment - though no contemporaneous document confirms it.

Never state

River Plate refused to fund Messi's treatment (as a stated fact)

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