CELEBRITY
LIONEL MESSI SET TO SUE EL MUNDO & BARCELONA OFFICIALS OVER CONTRACT LEAK
Lionel Messi is set to sue Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the five Barcelona club members who may have been responsible for leaking images of his current contract to the media.
The 33-year-old put pen to paper on the deal back in 2017, and the documents leaked at the end of January show that the Argentinian superstar will have earned an eye-watering €492m by the time it expires in the summer of 2021.Messi is understandably furious over the article printed in El Mundo, and he has decided to take legal action against the Spanish outlet, as well as the five Barça officials who had access to the private documents, as reported by RAC1.
It is the first time that the superstar has laid the blame at anyone’s door, for an act which is considered to be of illegal activity, and punishable by the law.
Details published in the report show that the superstar became the highest-paid player in world football back in 2017, when he signed the bumper contract in question, worth €492m.
The story has caught the world’s attention, with many turning against Messi and blaming him for Barcelona’s financial demise.
Messi suspects that former president Josep Maria Bartomeu is behind the leak, given the fractious nature of their relationship, which led to the forward attempting to terminate his contract in order to force a move away from Camp Nou in the summer.
Along with Bartomeu, Jordi Mestre, the former vice-president, general manager Oscar Grau, president of the club’s management board Carles Tusquets, and head of the club’s legal services Roma Gomez Ponti are all possible culprits for this crime.
Barcelona are also carrying out an internal investigation of their own to understand who could have leaked the documents to the press, as they look to repair relationships with their talisman.
But with Messi’s contract expiring in the summer and the Argentine weighing up his options, this act of betrayal may be the final straw for Barça’s greatest ever player.
-90MIN
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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