“Bombshell”said the newspaper La Nación. “Scandal”, the influential portal Infobae exploded. “end announced“, assured Olé for his part. The decision of the psg of Suspend Leo Messi for his trip to Saudi Arabia It shook the hectic life of the Argentines for other reasons. Nothing less than Messi, the faultless player, winner of everything, except in Paris, exposed to what in Buenos Aires sounded like a lynching that brought other memories to mind. In April 1991, Napoli severely sanctioned Diego Maradona for a cocaine use that everyone knew in the institution and the same city. The exemplarity came at a strange time and invited suspicion, in the same way that the punishment that falls on the jersey 30 of the best player in the world arouses, 32 years later, endless suspicions in his native country. This is not a drug-related issue in this case. However, this unexpected drift in the career of Messi It seems like something more than a penalty for an allegedly inappropriate action, such as having traveled without the endorsement of your club’s authorities.
The feeling shared in Buenos Aires by many sports commentators is that something that has not yet been made explicit has happened that precipitated a rupture materialized in the sanction. “What happened to that unofficial announcement by the two parties just after the World Cup in Qatar, that there was an agreement in principle, on this Tuesday, May 2?”, Olé asked himself about the two weeks without games and without wages for a figure who has avoided sports scandals. “What happened is that in December of 2022 was all on track, but there was no total economic agreement nor was there a seductive sports project from PSG for Messi, who wanted a better formation of the squad to go for the dream of the Champions League. There was a meeting between Luis Campos, PSG manager, with Jorge, Leo’s father. All respectful, but without closing the continuity for another year. And meanwhile, the bad results began to hit hard.
changing opinions
Messi was once the object of suspicion in his own land. Some opinion makers could not understand how a player with exponential performance in Barcelona was unable to reproduce his feats with the Argentine team. He was criticized for not singing the verses of the national anthem before games. Nothing remained of those resentments after Argentina’s consecration in the 2021 Copa América. Then came the World Cup, and more than absolute unanimity, the deification of Rosario. Not even the link with the Saudis, of few scrolls in human rights issue, was never critically mentioned in Buenos Aires.
The role of the challengers For reasons that remind intransigent Argentines, it was assumed two years ago by some French media and a faction of the PSG fans. The little empathy between Messi and the “brava bar” of the Parisian team called the attention of the Argentine press. Not even his goals and assists for Mbappé managed to rebuild a relationship that seems completely broken. In this context of animosity, and in the absence of economic agreements, Messi, it is pointed out in Buenos Aires, seriously considered leaving Paris, although he never spoke about his future. However, he remarked olé“there was more smell of departure than of continuity“. The defeats of PSG and the family trip did the rest.
severity and indulgences
Something stinks in Paris, senses La Nación and compares the severity with which the Messi case was dealt with and the former indulgences of the Qatari club against the attitude of another star. “PSG did not have with Messi the condescension nor the flexibility that he did show on more than one occasion with Neymar, whose lightning trips to Brazil for carnivals or family birthdays lengthened their stays. This reaction from the club should only be interpreted in a footballing key, with fresh annoyance over the team’s very poor image in Sunday’s defeat against Lorient 3-1″. The star’s departure, he added, “would not be considered a great loss for his fans, who have decided to ignore it, nor for its leaders, who would not look badly at the salary that the club would save.” The publication stated that Messi “would already have an economic agreement for two years” with Barcelona, “but the main obstacle is that the Catalan club is still a long way from complying with the financial Fair Play” established by La Liga in order to register it. Beyond speculation, nobody expected to see the captain of the team involved in a similar situation.