Lionel Messi not to blame for financial woes, says Javier Tebas
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has defended Barcelona star Lionel Messi after the newspaper El Mundo published details of his big-money Camp Nou contract.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has insisted that Barcelona’s financial situation is because of the coronavirus pandemic and not Lionel Messi.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Sunday that the deal Messi signed in 2017 – due to expire at season’s end – is worth more than 555 million euros over four years.
“Not Messi’s fault”: Tebas tweets support for Barcelona star
It comes after Messi attempted to leave Camp Nou prior to the 2020-21 campaign and amid Barça’s financial woes caused by the fallout of the covid-19 crisis.
But Tebas wrote via Twitter: “Barcelona’s delicate financial situation [like other big clubs] is not Messi’s fault but the devastating effect of COVID.
“Without the pandemic, the income generated by the best player in history would prop up that expenditure. The sensationalism that surrounds the matter is unfair.”