CELEBRITY
BARCELONA SET TO OFFER MESSI A PAY CUT
Another round of row appears imminent at FC Barcelona as the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu is expected to tell their reluctant icon, Lionel Messito take a pay cut for the forthcoming season.
According to 90min publication, that will be what the president will offer when he meets face to face for the first time since Messi reluctantly agreed to stay at the club.
Messi rocked Barçelona when he issued formal notice of his intention to trigger a much-debated clause in his contact allowing him to leave the club as a free agent this summer, his frustration at breaking point.
But Barça, backed by La Liga, rejected his request and the player refused to engage in a legal battle over the validity of the clause.
Whether Messi looks to leave next summer, when his contract is actually up and Barcelona have no control over the situation, is another matter.
But, for now at least, he remains in Catalonia and will spend the 2020/21 season at Camp Nou as club captain.
That means now having to deal with Bartomeu, whose presence as president is alleged to be one of the main issues, amid the club’s financial concerns.
According to Spanish broadcaster Deportes Cuatro, Bartomeu is tasked with cutting costs to alleviate the strain and will ask Messi and the rest of the squad to agree to a ‘significant’ wage cut.
It is explained that Barça recorded a loss of €98m for the 2019/20 season, which could have been far worse still without the €72m sale of Arthur Melo to Juventus.
It is therefore vital to cut costs and Bartomeu will have to negotiate with Messi, who will be representing the whole squad in his role as skipper.
Messi and the Barcelona squad agreed to a 70% pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic in late March, but the Argentine wasn’t happy with the club handled the situation when it was suggested that the players might have been reluctant to accept the reduction to help.
“Before going any further, we want to make it clear that we were always willing to reduce our salaries because we understand perfectly that we are in an exceptional situation. We, as players, are always here to help the club when they ask,” Messi said at the time.
“It does not cease to surprise us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under the magnifying glass and tried to add pressure to do something that we always knew we would do.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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