Messi The Latest Pawn In Proxy Rivalry In Middle East

Lionel Messi was scheduled to workout with his Paris Saint-Germain colleagues on Monday, with his club locked in a tense French league title race.

Instead, he was in Saudi Arabia, petting a falcon, seeing a palm-weaving performance, and touring the Arabian Horse Museum as part of a business partnership with the kingdom to promote tourism in the Middle Eastern country.

It will be an expensive trip for the recent World Cup champion.

Messi has been suspended by PSG, supposedly for two weeks, during which he will not be paid or allowed to practice or play with the squad. That could signal the end of a turbulent and somewhat underwhelming two-season stint at a club where soap opera-style drama, both on and off the pitch, is never far away, given the presence of other superstars such as Kylian Mbappé and Neymar in the squad.

It also highlights the difficulties arising from Qatar and Saudi Arabia – gulf neighbors and strong recent adversaries in regional politics — becoming big football influencers.

Messi is at the center of it all by choice and because everyone — inside and outside the game — wants a piece of one of the all-time greats.

Argentina forward never intended to play for PSG, a club owned by Qatar Sports Investments, but found himself transferring there in 2021 after his previous team, Barcelona, ran into financial difficulties that are still ongoing.

It immediately put Messi in the hands of Qataris, as QSI is a subsidiary of the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, and invited accusations of sports washing against him.

Messi put himself in an even more precarious situation last year when he agreed to be effectively an ambassador for Saudi Arabia only months before the World Cup in Qatar.

Lionel Messi was scheduled to workout with his Paris Saint-Germain colleagues on Monday, with his club locked in a tense French league title race.

As a result, he chose to make this week’s journey to the kingdom without PSG’s authorization and during a period when the squad had been requested to practice in response to the team’s 3-1 setback at home to Lorient on Sunday.

According to the French daily L’Equipe, PSG coach Christophe Galtier has promised his players a day off on Monday and Tuesday if they win Lorient. Instead, the team practiced on Monday and had the day off on Tuesday.

Following Messi’s suspension, the Saudi Tourism Authority issued a lengthy news release detailing the movements of the “football icon” and his family on a day he was supposed to be in France. Other trip highlights included “feeding the indigenous Arabian gazelles,” the Messis were supposedly “charmed by the authenticity and architecture of At-Turaif, as well as the beauty of the Arabian horses.”

“Messi’s visit to Saudi Arabia was jam-packed with exciting activities, with something for everyone in the family,” enthused the tourism board.

It would be fascinating reading for PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of QSI and beIN Media Group, which has recently been the victim of broadcasting piracy in Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fighting over who will be the epicenter of Asian football. The president of the Asian Football Confederation is up for grabs in 2027, and both organizations have possible candidates lined up.

The presidents of the Saudi and Qatari football federations, Yasser Almisehal and Sheikh Hamad Al Thani, have been members of the FIFA Council, the executive body that makes decisions in world football, since the February elections.

The neighbors and rivals were battling for the right to host the Asian Cup in 2027 until a solution arose that rewarded both.

Qatar stepped up after China rescinded hosting rights for the 2023 event, citing the COVID-19 outbreak, and the tournament will begin in January in Doha. The AFC then granted Saudi Arabia the 2027 edition, a possible tryout for future World Cup dreams, possibly in 2034.

Messi put himself in an even more precarious situation last year when he agreed to be effectively an ambassador for Saudi Arabia only months before the World Cup in Qatar.

It does not end with football. Doha will host the multi-sport Asian Games in 2030, and Qatar is largely expected to launch a new bid to host the Olympics in 2036.

The 2034 Asian Games will be held in Riyadh, and Saudi Arabia has won the bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Trojena, a futuristic mountainous resort that has yet to be developed.

All of this is above Messi’s head, but his decisions over the last two years have put him front and center in this regional competition.

However, his association with PSG may be coming to an end. His contract ends at the end of the season, and there is speculation regarding his next move, with speculations tying him to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, a return to Barcelona, and, of course, a lucrative move to a Saudi team, possibly Al-Hilal.

Playing for Al-Hilal would pit him against long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been with Saudi club Al-Nassr since the beginning of the year.

Moving the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry to Saudi Arabia would encapsulate modern-day soccer, with the Middle East’s riches proving as alluring to two of the game’s GOATs as they are to FIFA and other sports organizations.

SOURCE – (AP)