Lionel Messi Apologizes To Paris Saint German And Teammates For Saudi Arabia Trip

Paris Saint Germain forward Lionel Messi has apologized to the club and his teammates for taking an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was suspended for two weeks on Tuesday after heading to the Middle East to fulfil his responsibilities as a tourism ambassador which AS reported pays him €30 million ($33 million) a year.

Messi will miss two upcoming games against Troyes and Ajaccio as part of his punishment and will also be docked two weeks’ pay. This represents around $2.7 million in lost earnings according to Forbes’ list of the World-Highest Paid Athletes 2023, where Messi finished second with $130 million evenly split on-field and off-field.

Amid reports from Fabrizio Romano that his father and agent Jorge Messi has told PSG they will leave when Messi’s contract expires on June 30, the 35-year-old took to his Instagram account where he boasts 458 million followers on Friday afternoon and issued an apology.

“Hello. Well, I wanted to make this video after everything that’s going on,” a sullen Messi, dressed in a shirt and suit jacket, began.

“First of all, I apologize again to my teammates at the club. I honestly thought that we were going to have the day off after the game as we had done before. I had organized this trip to Saudi Arabia, which I had previously cancelled and I couldn’t go.

“Once again, I apologise for what I did. So here I am, waiting to see what the club wants to do, nothing more. A hug,” Messi concluded.

Messi’s remarks seem to suggest that further action might be taken by PSG, with some onlookers concluding that he may never kick a competitive ball for the Ligue 1 leaders again as five games remain in the French top flight’s 2022/2023 season.

PSG currently lead Marseille by five points at the summit, and Messi’s 15 goals and 15 assists have been vital in setting the Parisians up for back-to-back titles.

Messi meanwhile continues to be linked to a return to his former club FC Barcelona in the summer if not heading to the Middle East to take a lucrative €400 million ($440 million) offer from Al-Hilal as reported by the Saudi Gazette, or trying his luck at Inter Miami in the MLS.