A Dubai court sentenced a policeman to one month in prison on Monday for posting a video showing Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi’s passport on social media, local media reported.

The Gulf News daily reported on its website that the policeman, identified only by his initials J.J., was criticised in particular for having “abused the telecommunications system”.

The policeman pleaded guilty and admitted he was wrong to have uploaded the post of Messi’s passport to Snapchat via his smartphone.

The incident occurred in December at Dubai airport, where Messi had landed to attend the Globe Soccer Awards, at which he received the best player award.

The Emirati policeman wanted a photo of himself with the footballer, but was told the star was tired from the flight, The National daily reported last month.

“I then went to the passport control desk and noticed that Messi’s passport had been left there, so I picked it up and shot a video of myself while holding it,” it quoted the policeman as saying.