Lionel Messi's double doping test not unusual - Enrique Gomez

The director of Spain's anti-doping agency says there was nothing out of the ordinary about the "double testing" of Barcelona's Lionel Messi this week.

Messi was asked to give both blood and urine samples when the testers visited Barca's training ground on Monday morning, and the Argentina captain then appeared to complain via social media about being regularly singled out for attention.

However, Enrique Gomez Bastida, the Spanish government-appointed director of the Agencia Espanola Antidopaje, told AS that nobody should have been surprised about what occurred as all clubs had been briefed on the procedures at the beginning of the season.

"We had a meeting beforehand with all team sports to explain how the doping controls were going to work this season," Gomez Bastida said. "For football we met at the headquarters of La Liga and there were representatives present from all first and second division clubs. We explained the new parameters so there would be no surprises later, so they would know the surprise [out of competition] controls would be part of the routine."

The Spanish testers are following guidelines from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which recommend that more surprise "out of competition" tests are carried out, as these are more efficient than "in competition" controls.