Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro weighed in on Lionel Messi’s departure from Barcelona on Tuesday (August 10) saying his departure was ”ugly.”
“And there’s Messi, what they (Barcelona) did to Messi was ugly. I cried alongside him. When I saw him crying I cried because he’s an authentic guy, a triumph of the sporting world. And what they did, the directors of the club Barcelona to the biggest triumph that the Barcelona club has had, there’s no name for it,” said Maduro.
Messi joined Paris St Germain on Tuesday after leaving Barcelona, the club where he had begun and expected to end his career.
✍️❤️? #PSGxMESSI pic.twitter.com/aSGpMhjp2O
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 10, 2021
Only two days ago, Messi had wept as he bade farewell to his boyhood team, describing his feelings at being told he had to leave as like having “a bucket of cold water poured over me”.
The arrival of Messi, whose last contract with Barcelona was worth a total of 555 million euros ($650 million) and reported to be the most lucrative in world sport, is also set to provoke a renewed new debate about UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
