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Lionel Messi went from paradise to punishment and is now apologizing. Earlier this week it was revealed that the PSG star was being reprimanded for a family trip to Saudi Arabia. PSG suspended Messi for two weeks without pay for skipping training without receiving permission from the club.
On Friday, he posted a video in his Instagram story making the apology. “Hello, well, I wanted to make this video in response to what is happening, first of all, to apologize obviously to my teammates, to the club,” the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner said at the beginning of his message.
The soccer player visited Saudi Arabia after PSG’s 3-1 loss to Lorient on Sunday, April 30. According to reports from the French sports press, PSG decided to sanction Messi for having traveled to Riyadh a day after losing to FC Lorient, missing out on the training that followed the defeat.
“I honestly thought we were going to be free after the game as it had been happening so during the previous weeks. I had organized this trip to Arabia, which I had previously canceled, and I couldn’t,” he continued. If PSG had won that match, he and his teammates would have enjoyed two days off, but since they didn’t, everyone had to show up the day after for practice.
“And nothing, I repeat, (I want) to apologize for what I did, and here I am waiting for what the club decides,” he concluded.
Can a move to Saudi Arabia be in Messi’s future?
Messi has a commercial contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism in the Middle Eastern country as a tourism ambassador. But there is now speculation he might play for it’s Saudi Pro League this summer. Messi is expected to be a free agent after the summer. According to The Telegraph, the deal with Saudi Arabia could be worth a deal valued at US$400 million or more.
There is also speculation that he will return to F.C. Barcelona.