Lionel Messi will face a two-game club ban and a fine in excess of €4 Million, but what has pushed PSG to such drastic measures?
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00:00 Following an unauthorised publicity trip to Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi has been both fined
00:08 and suspended by his club Paris Saint-Germain.
00:11 Holy moly, hello there everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here and yes you did hear that right,
00:17 Lionel Messi has been suspended and fined by Paris Saint-Germain, mere, I haven't got
00:22 to watch on, some months since winning the World Cup.
00:25 Now this all centres around his recent publicity trip to Saudi Arabia where he is currently
00:29 a global tourism ambassador.
00:31 He posted what a great time he was having there, several Saudi officials shared how
00:34 great it was to have him in the country but PSG were like, no no, that ain't gonna run.
00:40 Now the club have declined to give any sort of official statement on the matter, unless
00:44 you're classed saying you're not doing a statement as doing a statement, but it basically
00:48 goes like this.
00:50 Messi as part of his agreed contract with Saudi Arabia did have this trip booked in
00:54 several months ago.
00:55 But by pure coincidence it always coincided with PSG suffering a loss and both he and
00:59 the club decided it would not be a particularly good look for him then to just hot foot it
01:04 off to another country where he's been linked with a move, let's not forget, and do lots
01:08 of nice things for them.
01:09 Now wouldn't you just know it, PSG got beat again at the weekend, a fairly meek 3-1 defeat
01:13 to Lorient at the Parc des Princes, but Messi could put this trip off no longer and ask
01:17 the club if it was okay for him to go anyway.
01:20 And depending on whose version of events you believe, either the club said no or the club
01:24 said nothing, but either way, Messi went without permission.
01:28 He was supposed to be at training on Monday, he didn't show up, but instead he was posting
01:31 all his nice holiday pictures.
01:33 Now normally you'd think that's the kind of slap on the wrist, say just don't do it again,
01:36 you are a big megastar sort of thing, but PSG are in the midst of a big cultural shakeup
01:41 at the club.
01:42 Basically signing superstars like Messi and Neymar was supposed to deliver them the Champions
01:46 League and thus the international credibility that comes with it, but it just isn't working
01:50 because as you and I know, that's not how you win the Champions League.
01:54 My other theory is that they've just been watching Chelsea a lot this year and thinking
01:58 like "Oh my god, is that what we look like?
02:00 Is that what people think of us?
02:02 That's so embarrassing!"
02:03 So now PSG's owners are just like "No, no more, no superstars, nobody's bigger than
02:08 the club, you can either get in line or you can 'faire une promenade copain'."
02:13 And of course 'faire une promenade copain' is almost certainly what Lionel Messi's going
02:16 to be doing this summer as his two-year contract is coming to an end and the club show no signs
02:20 whatsoever of extending it to three.
02:22 Now we've already covered this, it should be on the screen somewhere in great depth,
02:26 but this has opened the door for Barcelona to try and come back in and get him, there's
02:29 talk of him going to Saudi Arabia, hence why this trip was so controversial, but my personal
02:33 preference if you're watching Lionel would be to go to Inter Miami, where you will end
02:38 your career being managed by Phil Neville.
02:40 Now that may sound like I'm being sarcastic there, but do you not just think that would
02:43 be really fun?
02:45 Messi and Phil Neville?
02:46 I do.
02:47 Anyway, no pun intended, but you might say this whole Lionel Messi situation's getting
02:52 a bit murky and that nobody can really see precisely what's going to happen, but anyway
02:56 let me know what you think in the comments below and of course don't forget to like,
02:59 share and subscribe.
03:00 Will he somehow patch it up and stay in Paris?
03:02 Will he go back to Barcelona as a reunion with Ronaldo on the cards in Saudi Arabia?
03:07 Who knows?
03:08 In the meantime though, thank you so much for watching, I've been Adam Cleary, this
03:10 has been 4/4 News, did that work?
03:13 No probably not, and I'll see you soon.