Under-fire Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has moved to appease fans by claiming Lionel Messi is already playing under a five-year contract, which has been signed on behalf of the player by his father.
The club announced in July that their all-time leading goalscorer, whose deal was due to expire at the end of this season, had signed an extension to 2021 yet the lack of official confirmation thereafter caused concern among the fan base.
Bartomeu claimed on Catalan television that the deal has been done and runs through to 2022.
"We’ll take an official photo of Messi signing it, but there’s no rush," Bartomeu told 8TV.
"Hopefully before the end of the year, but the contract itself has been signed by his father on behalf of the player, as well as that of his foundation's and image contracts."
"He doesn’t need to sign it given his father has. He's currently playing under the deal, which comes under last season's books.
"It runs until 2022 and if he wants he can of course renew it and play at the new Camp Nou stadium. There’s no better test to his commitment than to see him play." (Reporting by Joseph Cassinelli; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will again be duelling for the title of world's best footballer after their names once again headed the shortlist on Thursday for The Best FIFA Men's Player.
The pair, who have dominated the global award in its varied forms for a decade, will be favourites to collect yet another accolade amid the 24-strong list of the world's best.
Ronaldo enjoyed another remarkable season in which he inspired Real Madrid to a La Liga/Champions League double while Messi topped him in the Spanish goalscoring charts for Barcelona while going past a career landmark of 500 goals for the club.
Carli Lloyd, the U.S. World Cup winner and two-time Olympic champion, was the inaugural winner and again makes the list of 10 in contention to be "Best FIFA" woman player.
Zinedine Zidane, who guided Real Madrid's landmark season, with seven of their players in the men's shortlist, is recognised in his nomination as best men's coach.
The awards are a revival of the old FIFA World Player of the Year, which had been combined with France Football magazine's Ballon d'Or for six years before the collaboration ended last year. Ronaldo won the inugural "best" trophy.
They are voted for by national coaches and captains, selected media and fans, with the winners to be announced at a ceremony in London on October 23.
The shortlists:
The best men's player: Pierre Aubameyang (Gabon, Borussia Dortmund), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy, AC Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus), Daniel Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina, Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (France, Atletico Madrid), Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Manchester United), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Harry Kane (England, Tottenham Hotspur), N'Golo Kante (France, Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil, Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica, Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil, Paris St Germain), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Chile, Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay, Barcelona), Arturo Vidal (Chile, Bayern Munich)
The best women's player: Lucy Bronze (England, Manchester City), Deyna Castellanos (Venezuela, Santa Clarita Blue Heat), Pernille Harder (Denmark, Wolfsburg), Sam Kerr (Australia, Sky Blue), Carli Lloyd (USA, Houston Dash/Manchester City), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany, Lyon), Lieke Martens (Netherlands, Barcelona), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands, Bayern Munich), Wendie Renard (France, Lyon), Jodie Taylor (England, Arsenal)
The best men's coach: Massimiliano Allegri (Italy, coach of Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Italy, Bayern Munich), Antonio Conte (Italy, Chelsea), Luis Enrique (Spain, Barcelona), Pep Guardiola (Spain, Manchester City), Leonardo Jardim (Portugal, Monaco), Joachim Loew (Germany, German national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal, Manchester United), Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina, Tottenham Hotspur), Diego Simeone (Argentina, Atletico Madrid), Tite (Brazil, Brazilian national team), Zinedine Zidane (France, Real Madrid)
The best women's coach: Olivier Echouafni (France, French national team), Emma Hayes (England, Chelsea), Ralf Kellermann (Germany, Wolfsburg), Xavi Llorens (Spain, Barcelona), Nils Nielsen (Denmark, Danish national team), Florence Omagbemi (Nigeria, Nigerian national team), Gerard Precheur (France, Lyon), Dominik Thalhammer (Austria, Austrian national team), Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands, Netherlands national team), Hwang Yong-Bong (North Korea, North Korean national and under-20 teams) (Reporting by Ian Chadband; editing by Mark Heinrich)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
ROSARIO, Argentina - Lionel Messi said "I do" to childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo Friday in his Argentine hometown Rosario, where footballers and celebrities including pop singer Shakira had gathered for the "wedding of the century."
Following the private ceremony, the couple appeared happy and relaxed as they walked a red carpet before hundreds of media at a hotel and casino complex, Roccuzzo donning a tight, mermaid-style gown by Spanish designer Rosa Clara.
Shakira and her husband, Messi's teammate Gerard Pique, flew in to join the 260 guests including numerous footballers such as Messi's Barcelona strike partners Neymar and Luis Suarez.
Argentine media called it the "wedding of the century" for Rosario, the gritty northern port city where Messi, 30, and his bride, 29, met when the player was nine years old.
Former Barca and current Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas was in attendance, along with Argentina and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.
ROAST GIZZARDS
The party was to be a respite for Messi from his legal woes. A Spanish court last month rejected his appeal against a conviction for tax fraud.
Brunette bride Roccuzzo wore a white, curve-hugging dress with a deep sweetheart neckline and embroidered straps by Rosa Clara- a Spanish designer who has dressed actress Eva Longoria and Spain's Queen Letizia.
The wedding was held at 2200 GMT in the City Center casino, which stands right next to a crime-ridden slum run by drug gangs.
The civil wedding ceremony and party were all slated to take place inside the venue, and the guests will be lodged there too.
The feast will reportedly feature Argentine delicacies such as roast gizzards.
Uruguayan pop bands Rombai and Marama plus singer Karina, Aguero's wife, will perform at the reception.
There were also rumors that there would be singing by Shakira, the Colombian diva famous for "Hips Don't Lie" and "Whenever, Wherever."
Shakira had recently denied rumors that she would miss the wedding due to a quarrel with Roccuzzo.
HUMBLE COUPLE
Messi and Roccuzzo live in Barcelona where he plays, but still return regularly to Rosario for vacations.
He moved to Spain when he was 13 to join FC Barcelona, but the couple kept in touch.
Messi has gone on to win the top Ballon d'Or award five times. He is widely regarded as the world's best footballer.
But various old friends of the couple in their home city said the bride and groom are humble folk who have never forgotten where they come from.
"They are the love of each other's lives," Messi's childhood friend Diego Vallejos told AFP.
Instead of wedding presents, they have asked for donations to a children's charity.
'LEO AND ANTO'
The couple have reportedly spent the past two weeks in Rosario with family, but have kept out of sight of the reporters who have invaded the city.
Rumors circulated of bachelor and bachelorette parties, but the only evidence that emerged was a photo, posted by ex-Barca goalkeeper Jose Pinto, of Messi enjoying a barbecue with a few friends.
Some friends of Roccuzzo have shared pictures of her relaxing with relatives.
On the eve of the wedding, a festive atmosphere reigned in the Las Heras neighborhood where Messi grew up.
"We will celebrate," said Damian Lugoni, 27, a local sausage sandwich vendor.
"I wish good luck to Leo and Anto, who is just as simple and nice as him."
"We are all happy for them," said Lisandro Urteaga, an artist who was called in to paint a mural of Messi in the neighborhood for the occasion.
"Let him celebrate the way someone like him deserves. He is a real example as a human being - although when he plays football he doesn't seem to be from this planet."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
