Mansion rental too rich for Messi

Sky-high property prices in Brazil have claimed a new victim in Argentina forward Lionel Messi, the world's highest-paid soccer player.

According to the online edition of the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, Messi scrapped plans to rent a mansion for his family outside the city of Belo Horizonte for the duration of the World Cup.

Although his new contract with Spanish club Barcelona will reportedly pay the four-time World Player of the Year a net annual salary of $27 million, Messi and his staff thought the $67,600 rent for a month-long stay in the 21,500-square foot mansion was too expensive, Estado said.