Another good example of the constant intentional miscommunication on this forum. Neither I nor lessthanjake said anything about him receiving the money, whether he should or shouldn't get paid, whether there's proof, or anything else in that context. All we commented on was the amount itself. All we said was that the 3.5M that was being thrown around is not peanuts, as you said. At that point the discussion was no longer about Messi, Gabon, payment, proof, or anything like that, it was about the ratio of 3.5M to the yearly wages of such a player. The point was that 3.5M would not be peanuts to him, because he doesn't earn 900M a year, but somewhere around 30-40M probably, which would make the 3.5M about 10%. I don't think anyone would consider a 10% raise insignificant. Especially when the 10% is added for no more than a day's work.
By the way, here's a hint: you don't reach a 200M net worth by thinking of 3.5M payments as peanuts.