The world’s most famous soccer player surrendered to money, acting as the face of Saudi Arabia’s sports laundry.
Captained by Lionel Messi, Argentina stumbled upon an unexpected obstacle. PDO
Nobody expected Argentina to lose to Saudi Arabia. The defeat of one of the biggest championship favorites against a team that was called a throwaway bag in Group C was received around the world with dismay.
The domestic press ran amok La Albiceleste grief. Clarin, the country’s largest newspaper gave the Argentinian crew poor marks in his match review.
Even the team captain, superstar and Argentina’s only striker, Lionel Messi, was not spared from criticism.
– The match started well. Scored a goal almost immediately and soon hit one from the crossbar. After that, it was difficult for him to find space in the super tight opposition defense. Scored in Saudi Arabia’s opening goal. Weak start Flea for the fifth World Cup, the magazine that gave Messi the rating of Nelonen is boring.
“Sold yourself to the devil”
Messi said yes to Saudi money. EPA / AOP
The 35-year-old Messi is undoubtedly one of the best players of all time. The all-conquering ball pro is hunting for the only missing talisman in his trophy cabinet, World Cup gold.
If he achieves that, there will be no more ambiguity in the books of many about the best player of all time.
On the field, Messi captivates hundreds of millions of people with his tricks match after match. However, the Argentinian’s entanglement with Arab countries’ sports laundry has tarnished his reputation.
The continental plates of the football world moved when Messi moved from Barcelona to the French club PSG in the summer of 2021. The club is owned by the wealthy Qatar Sports Investments, which has acquired its home country’s reputation in the world of football with billions of euros.
In addition to Qatar, Messi is very strongly linked to Saudi Arabia. To the team to which Argentina lost its opening match of the World Cup.
One of the most undemocratic countries in the world, the sunken oil-rich country wants to polish its public image with money. A state-led PR campaign generously offers money to anyone who agrees to extol the good aspects of Saudi Arabia and keep quiet about the bad.
Messi is one of the numerous public figures who have given their face to Saudi Arabia’s advertising image. As one of the biggest superstars in the sports world, the Argentinian’s role here is bigger than many others.
Messi signed a PR contract with Saudi Arabia in May. The financial value of the cooperation has not been made public, but according to the Daily Telegraph Cristiano Ronaldo previously refused an offer worth about five million euros.
According to The Athletic’s sources, Messi would have been offered a contract worth at least five times more.
Messi’s action has garnered a lot of criticism. Khalid Al-Jabria human rights activist and a Saudi who opposes the prison sentences of his family members, uploaded a scathing critique of Messi to The Athletic.
– He sold himself to the devil.
– It is not a problem for me that Messi plays in Saudi Arabia as part of his team. The problem is that Messi surrendered as a private person to the Saudi sports laundry, Al-Jabri downloads.
Is Messi worth Argentina or the Saudis?
Messi has started the collaboration by publishing pictures on his Instagram account of 377 million followers, in which he presents Saudi Arabia in an advertising manner.
The story continues after the pictures.
Messi has, at least for now, only promoted Saudi Arabian tourism. Terrestrial Vision 2030 – project highlights other purposes as well.
The project launched by Saudi Arabia has many good intentions. With it, the state strives to get rid of its economic dependence on oil. The money is used to develop the country in practically every area. Saudi Arabia’s ambition is to be one of the world’s superpowers in the future.
2030 is an important year for the project. It is also the same for the international football association Fifa.
Then it will be one hundred years of World Cup football. Practically all important football countries want to organize a festive tournament. Saudi Arabia is particularly keen to add it to its collection of sporting events.
The games are also wanted by Uruguay, which organized the first ever World Cup tournament in 1930. South America has submitted a joint competition application. When the project was presented a couple of years ago, the star striker of Uruguay served as the main attraction of the project Luis Suarez and Argentina’s talisman Messi.
Did Saudi Arabia buy Messi to their side? In the future, it will become clear which project he will vote for.