PSG suspend Messi over unauthorised trip to Saudi
The suspension means Messi will miss PSG’s next two games and comes at a delicate time as the French club hope to extend the 35-year-old’s contract beyond this season.
Paris Saint-Germain have suspended Lionel Messi for two weeks after the Argentina superstar took an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.
The suspension means Messi will miss PSG’s next two games and comes at a delicate time as the French club hope to extend the 35-year-old’s contract beyond this season.
Messi, who has a role as a tourism ambassador in Saudi Arabia, will reportedly not train with the club, or be paid, for the two weeks.
The suspension comes with the World Cup champion being linked with a return to former club Barcelona, along with the MLS side Inter Miami. “I’m not going to deny [it and say] there isn’t truth in the speculation that we’re interested in Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets,” the club’s manager, Phil Neville, told The Times in February.
Messi’s trip followed PSG’s surprise 3-1 home defeat by Lorient on Sunday, leaving the defending champions with a five-point lead over Marseille with five games left in the season. Messi played the full match.
L’Équipe had reported that the PSG coach Christophe Galtier promised to give his players two days off on Monday and Tuesday if they beat Lorient. Instead, the team trained on Monday and had Tuesday off.
Even if PSG retain their Ligue 1 crown, the season will be classed as an underwhelming one after they exited the Champions League tamely at the hands of Bayern Munich in the round of 16.
Messi joined the club from Barcelona two years ago, and there has been speculation about where he would play next.
