Lionel Messi, the Argentine football star, was recently suspended for two weeks by his club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and fined two weeks’ wages after he traveled to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission.
Messi had asked PSG for permission to make the trip, which was intended as a personal promotional tour, but the club did not grant him approval to travel. Despite this, Messi went ahead and traveled to the country, and subsequently, the PSG management imposed a suspension and fine on him.
The decision to suspend Messi shows that PSG has a new policy where no player is bigger than the team, a philosophy driven by the club’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
This new policy is meant to instill discipline and ensure that everyone within the club is held to the same standards. The PSG hierarchy held meetings to discuss the situation, and they decided that Messi’s trip to Saudi Arabia without permission was a breach of the club’s code of conduct.
Messi will miss two upcoming matches in Ligue 1, the French professional football league, against Troyes and Ajaccio due to his suspension.
However, he could return for the match against Auxerre on May 21. It is worth noting that Messi is a tourism ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and he had previously postponed two other promotional trips to the country due to defeats by his team. PSG has declined to comment publicly on the matter.
