A source informed AFP on Tuesday that Paris Saint-Germain may punish Lionel Messi for traveling to Saudi Arabia without authorization earlier this week.
According to the source, Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain, who will be released from his contract at the conclusion of the current season, will be suspended for “several days,” while many media outlets in France have stated that he would be given a sentence of two weeks.
“While disciplinary measures are in place, he will not be paid, he will not be able to train, and he will not be able to play,” the insider continued.
According to a second source inside the club, the seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or would “probably” be sidelined for a period of two weeks since “nobody is more important than the club.”
Messi, who will be 36 in June, participated in PSG’s loss to Lorient at home in the Ligue 1 match on Sunday, which Lorient won 3-1.
After that, he boarded a flight to Saudi Arabia in order to complete the tasks that were outlined in the agreement he had made with the Saudi Arabian tourism agency.
As a direct consequence of this, Messi did not show up for a practice that was scheduled to take place on Monday after the setback that occurred over the weekend. As a result, the PSG team was granted the day off on Tuesday.
According to the person who has information of the situation, the Argentine will not take part in training again on Wednesday.
PSG was scheduled to resume league play on Sunday away at Troyes, a team that is currently floundering, but Messi might now miss that match.
If he were to be out for two weeks, he would also miss the home match on May 13 against Ajaccio because of his injury.
Because of these disciplinary actions, the likelihood of Messi extending his stay in the French capital beyond the current season, when the current two-year contract on which he is signed would come to an end, is even less likely.
After it appeared for a while that he was going to extend his stay for another year, a source close to the club told AFP the previous month that he was now “much more likely” to leave at the end of the current campaign.
Messi moved to Paris in 2021 from Barcelona, but he has not been able to replicate his finest form since making the move. He has scored 31 goals in 71 games across all competitions.
He was recently jeered by a portion of the PSG supporter base, who regard him as a symbol of everything the club has done wrong in concentrating on superstar acquisitions while failing to construct a really competitive squad. They see him as a symbol of all the club has done wrong in focusing on superstar signings while failing to build a team that can compete at the highest level.
This season, Messi has scored 20 goals in all competitions, and he is also the leader in Ligue 1 in terms of assists, having provided 15 of them.
However, since he led Argentina to victory at the World Cup in Qatar, his form has declined along with the team’s overall performance.
A lackluster effort by PSG in their encounter against Lorient led to the club’s sixth loss in 17 Ligue 1 matches in 2023.
They still have a five-point lead over Marseille at the top of the standings, which means they are on track to win a record 11th French championship despite having just five games remaining to play.
On the other hand, they were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern Munich in the round of 16, and they were also eliminated from the French Cup by Marseille at the same point.