Messi apologizes after unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia

2023-05-05 17:51:00

Lionel Messi asked “forgiveness” in a video posted on his Instagram account. Ambassador of the Saudi Arabia tourist office, he traveled without the agreement of PSG.

By Nathan Joubioux for Le Point

After his trip to Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi asks for forgiveness.
© MATTHIEU MIRVILLE / Matthieu Mirville / DPPI via AFP

Published on 05/05/2023 at 5:51 p.m.

« JI apologize to my teammates at the club. In a video posted this Friday, May 5 on his Instagram account, Lionel Messi apologizes after his trip to Saudi Arabia, the day after a defeat against FC Lorient (1-3).

“I sincerely thought we were going to have a day off, like the previous weeks,” he explains in Spanish, in a no-frills video.

Leo Messi statement ������ #Messi

“I thought we were going to have a day off after the game as always. I had this trip organized and I couldn’t cancel it. I had already canceled it before…”.

“I apologize to my teammates and I’m waiting for what the club wants to do with me”. pic.twitter.com/GBuarEgwSl

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 5, 2023

The world champion became the ambassador of the tourist office of Saudi Arabia for a contract estimated at 30 million euros and made this trip without the authorization of Paris Saint-Germain. “I had organized this trip and I couldn’t cancel it. I had already canceled it before, ”continues Lionel Messi. Faced with a fait accompli, PSG ended up reacting 24 hours later by deciding to suspend their player for two weeks.

READ ALSOLionel Messi and PSG: a divorce and a fiasco“I am now waiting to find out what the club wants to do with me,” he concludes. According The Teamthis escapade convinced the leaders not to extend the Argentine star next season.