2023-05-05 18:13:25
BarcelonaLeo Messi’s history with Paris Saint-Germain has come to a close. The Argentinian player has uploaded a video to his Instagram account apologizing for the trip he took to Saudi Arabia earlier in the week which cost him being fined by his club with two weeks’ work and pay. “First of all I want to apologize to my teammates and the club. Honestly, we thought we would have days off after the game as had happened in the previous weeks. I had organized this trip to Arabia, which I had previously postponed,” begins Messi, on foot standing and wearing a jacket. “This time I couldn’t cancel it. I’m here waiting for what the club decides,” he adds in a recording that lasts 38 seconds.
The conflict came after PSG lost 1-3 to Lorient in a Ligue 1 match on Sunday. This defeat resulted in the Parisian team finally not having a party on Monday, but when this change became known, Messi was already flying to Saudi Arabia and missed scheduled training. The penalty arrived on Tuesday and Messi respected it by not showing up for the Parisian team’s session at the Camp des Loges on Wednesday. But the fans sided with the club. Thus, on Wednesday itself dozens of radical PSG supporters slandered the footballer with chants of “Messi, son of a bitch” in front of the offices of the French entity.
Messi traveled to Saudi Arabia accompanied by his family and with the intention of fulfilling commercial commitments. PSG, owned by a sovereign investment fund of Qatar, was not informed by the player of his intentions and the decision of the ex-Barça footballer was taken very badly. Messi’s temporary layoff comes at a critical time for the French team, who were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League, their goal frustrated for years.
Things are not looking rosy at the national level either. Eliminated from the French Cup, they are only five points ahead of Olympique de Marseille in the Ligue 1 standings with five games to go. Messi’s suspension will mean that he misses the matches against Troyes and Ajaccio. The supposed return would take place in the field of Auxerre on May 21. On the penultimate day, the Parisians will play against Strasbourg, also at home, and so Messi will only have one game left to play at the Parc des Princes. It remains to be seen how the Argentine will be received by his fans on the last day of the league, when PSG will face Clermont.
Strategic rivals
Leo Messi is a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia under a recently signed agreement with the country. The sanction is another sign of the climate of hostility that has reigned between Saudi Arabia and Qatar for years. The two countries are fighting for hegemony in the area. One of the most recent tense episodes occurred when in 2017 Qatar suffered the economic blockade of several neighboring countries under the leadership of Saudi Arabia. That year Riyadh aligned itself with Egypt, the Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen, which also announced the suspension of their diplomatic relations with Qatar due to the country’s alleged “support for terrorism”. They accused him of financing groups such as Al-Qaida, the Islamic State or the Muslim Brotherhood. Nor do Saudi Arabia and Qatar have a good relationship in the sporting field: in ARA we explained a few months ago that the two countries are competing to buy world sport.
#Video #Leo #Messi #apologizing #PSG