It was a meeting that captivated Catalonia. On Thursday, February 16, Lionel Messi’s father Jorge traveled to Barcelona on Thursday, February 16. A trip where the one who defends the interests of his son, who arrived at PSG in the summer of 2021, met the president of Barça, Joan Laporta. All while the seven-time Ballon d’Or has not yet extended his contract at PSG, which ends in June despite an agreement in principle. Enough to bring – again – the subject of a potential return of the star to Spain on Wednesday at a press conference.
“I’ve said it before, Barça is his home and the doors are always open to him,” replied Xavi, his former partner now Barça coach on the eve of the 16th final second leg of the Europa League (2-2 first leg) between FC Barcelona and Manchester United. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan leader and Jorge Messi spoke well of the Argentinian’s future in France, but also the tribute that Barça should pay to his prodigy as well as the words of his brother, Matias.
Barça entangled in an arbitration scandal
“We are not going to return to Barcelona. And if we come back, we’ll do a good cleaning. And in particular to fire Joan Laporta, an ungrateful man, “wrote, commenting on an article in the daily Sport, the older brother of Lionel Messi, disavowed in stride by the entourage of the star.
But if the rumor of a return of Messi to Barça comes to circulate again, it may not be completely innocent. The club is facing a crisis linked to possible fraudulent payments to a former head of refereeing in Spain. According to El Mundo, FC Barcelona has transferred more than 6 million euros since 2001 to José Maria Enriquez Negreira, former number two in Spanish arbitration between 1994 and 2018, to advise the club on arbitration issues.
The president of the Spanish Football League, Javier Tebas, called for the resignation of Joan Laporta if the latter did not explain himself further. The Catalan club explained that it had in the past a contract with an “external supplier” from which it received, among other things, “technical reports related to professional arbitration”, a “common practice in professional football clubs”. .