CELEBRITY
UPROAR AS BARCA PROMOTE NEW HOME KIT WITH MESSI’S IMAGE
Daily Mail in UK has reported that angry Barcelona supporters have slammed the club for using an image of Lionel Messi to sell their new home kit – just hours before the player’s father meets with president Josep Bartomeu to discuss his son’s exit this summer.
Club officials released the advert of Messi, who is stood front and centre wearing the home strip, while Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong, Gerard Pique and Marc-Andre ter Stegen flank the Argentine.
In what appears to be a calculated move, the Barcelona board are hoping to show that the 33-year-old still has a future at the Nou Camp ahead of talks with Messi’s father Jorge on Wednesday.
However, the advert has caused backlash from fans on social media with many claiming that the club are wrong to include Messi in any shape or form, considering he will most likely leave the club in the coming weeks.
Many hit out at the club for holding Messi hostage, after the player himself sensationally handed a transfer request to force through a move to Manchester City.
One fan demanded the club to stop using pictures of Messi to help sell their merchandise, saying: ‘Stop advertising the jersey with Messi, just let him go ffs, the man deserves this much.’
Others branded the club as ‘shameless’ for trying to capitalise on the financial gain of still having Messi on their books.
With Messi set to leave, one Twitter user insisted that the club had advertised the 2020-21 home kit on false pretenses, saying: ‘False advertising. Messi doesn’t come with the kit anymore.’
Another pointed out how the talismanic forward isn’t getting the respect he deserves after what he’s done for the club.
The comment read: ‘Messi deserves same respect as Iniesta, how he was let even when he was in middle of a contract, they should show Messi same respect he deserves better farewell than this.’
Twitter user @phil_papa then slated the club over keeping Messi, labelling them as a ‘disgrace’.
He said: ‘You’ve turned this into “Less que un club”. Have some decency, show great players some respect, nurture talent, stop shady transfer deals and find real managers with might and a vision for the club. What you are doing to this institution is an absolute disgrace.’
The kit, which was unveiled in July, was made available to purchase on Wednesday.
Manchester City are hopeful of bringing Messi to the Premier League, though it would not be financially feasible to get a deal done if Barcelona continue to dig their heels in with the 33-year-old’s release clause set at an eye-watering £629million.
Barcelona insist Messi is still under contract and have urged him to stop pursuing a move away and commit to a new deal.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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