Soccer world reacts to disturbing Lionel Messi news

You wouldn’t think soccer superstar Lionel Messi needs the money, but he’s about to get a whole lot of it from Saudi Arabia.

The Argentinian soccer hero recently signed a lucrative deal with Saudia Arabia’s tourism authority but that arrangement comes with a disturbing caveat in terms of what he’s allowed to do and say.

The NY Times’ Karim Zidan wrote about the deal, saying that Messi will earn up to $25 million over three years by traveling to Saudi Arabia, making some commercials, and posting about his trips on social media.

A contract between Messi and Saudi’s tourism authority offers rare insight into their partnership:

-$2 million social media post
-$2 million per promotional visit
-$25 million up for grabs
-Can’t “tarnish” 🇸🇦 image

My latest for @nytimes w/ @tariqpanja https://t.co/CR2umCdDMQ

— Karim Zidan 🕊️ (@ZidanSports) June 18, 2023

A lot of the details sound pretty normal for this kind of thing.

“The contract shows that Messi could receive as much as 22.5 million euros, about $25 million, over three years for little actual work: a few commercial appearances, a handful of social media posts, and some all-expenses-paid vacations to the kingdom with his family and children,” wrote Zidan. “He is expected to share images of those trips — marked with a Saudi-approved hashtag — with his vast online following.”

However, there’s also a clause in the deal that says Messi cannot say or do anything to “tarnish” the reputation of the nation, which is desperately trying to sportswash its image over its many human rights violations.

“But the document also contains a condition important to Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might “tarnish” Saudi Arabia, a country that has faced widespread criticism for its human rights record,” wrote Zidan.”

That clause has a lot of people around the soccer world disturbed.

So this is how much it takes to help launder a country’s reputation. https://t.co/yD1rsOGxjg

— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) June 18, 2023

He may be the greatest, but he just sold his own right to free speech… https://t.co/J9wRXWwArI

— Kate Neilan 🫧 (@Magic_Kitten) June 18, 2023

Money > Honor https://t.co/ij3u0hwrbG

— DYLAN (@DYLANmmc) June 18, 2023

Messi will presumably take some of those trips when he’s not playing for his new club, MLS’s Inter-Miami

[NY Times]