FOOTBALL: Messi and Barça take legal action against “El Mundo” after revealing “most expensive contract in the history of the sport”
Club and player have announced that they intend to take legal action against the newspaper and the board members who were aware of the contents of the contract. FC Barcelona itself denies any involvement in the leakage of information from the contract.
Confidential information leaked
The club says it regrets that confidential information between club and player has been leaked. “The content of the contract is strictly confidential and personal in nature,” said the club. The contract shows that Messi has earned a total of more than 555 million euros in the last four seasons of his contract with FC Barcelona. Revelations come at a time when FC Barcelona is in dire straits financially and administratively, awaiting a new club president.
Club debts
Due to the financial policies under the recently resigned chairman Bartomeu and the consequences of the COVID pandemic, the club’s total debts have increased significantly in the past year. As a result, debts now stand at 1.17 billion euros. In the coming year, a total of 300 million euros must be cut from spending. Of all the clubs in Europe, FC Barcelona spends the most on salaries. However, after recent negotiations with the players, 172 million in salaries have been cut for next year.
The publication in El Mundo comes at a very inconvenient and delicate time. Furthermore, the star player has still not announced whether he will continue to play at the club next season. Two of the candidate presidents, Juan Laporte and Victor Font have already commented in favour of Messi. They agree that in addition to his successes in the field, Messi has more than earned every euro invested in him. Barça says “Messi, has grown up at the club and become the best player in football history”. In every way, the club lends its full support.
