by tyler | Jun 7, 2023 | CNN, football
French striker Karim Benzema has signed with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ittihad on an initial three-year deal, the club announced on Tuesday.
Benzema played his final game for Real Madrid on Sunday having spent 14 years with the Spanish giant, winning the men’s Ballon d’Or in 2022 – the award recognizing the best player in world football over the course of a year.
Al-Ittihad won the Saudi Pro League (SPL) this season under the stewardship of one-time Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo and offered Benzema a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million.
The club’s official Twitter account posted a video of the French forward with the caption: “Benzema is here. A new tiger will roar. Welcome to Ittihad.”
The SPL shared a statement on the signing, reading: “Benzema’s arrival is the most impactful transfer in the club’s history to date.
“It also marks another huge step in the Saudi Pro League’s journey to become one of football’s leading destinations for the world’s very best after its biggest season to date.”
Benzema, seen holding up Al-Ittihad’s black and yellow striped shirt in Tuesday’s press release, is quoted in the league’s statement, saying: “I am excited to experience a new football league in a different country. Al-Ittihad Club has an amazing history, incredibly passionate fans and big ambitions in football to be a force in Asia after winning the league.
“I have been fortunate to achieve amazing things in my career and achieve everything I can in Spain and Europe. It now feels the time is right for a new challenge and project.”
Benzema also expressed joy at joining a league which already contains his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
“It’s a good league and there are many good players,” the 35-year-old said. “Cristiano Ronaldo is already there, a friend [who] shows Saudi Arabia is starting to further progress its level. I am here to win, like I did in Europe.”
Al-Ittihad’s president Anmar Bin Abdullah Alhailael said: “To sign the current Ballon d’Or holder from Real Madrid is another historic milestone for this special club. Karim is a global football icon, he’s box office and very much at the top of his powers.”
Benzema joined Real Madrid from Lyon in 2009, aged 21. He won 25 trophies with the club, making 648 appearances and scoring 354 goals – the second most in its history. His five Champions League titles tie for the most in history for an individual player.
by tyler | Jun 6, 2023 | CNN, football
Lionel Messi’s father and agent, Jorge Messi, says his son’s preferred move would be a return to Barcelona during the summer transfer window.
Messi played his last match for Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, ending a two-year stay in the French capital which had become tumultuous of late.
The World Cup winner was booed on more than one occasion by PSG fans this season, including when he walked onto the pitch at the Parc des Princes stadium to celebrate the team’s Ligue 1 title on Sunday.
Among the clubs vying for his contract is Al-Hilal, with Reuters reporting last month that Messi had received a formal offer to join the Saudi club.
However, when asked by journalists if returning to Barcelona, where Messi spent 17 trophy-laden years, would be his son’s preferred move, Jorge answered: “Yes.”
Jorge was then asked if the Messi family was confident of a return to the Catalan club, to which he responded: “I would love it.”
Messi left Barcelona in tears in 2021 after financial mismanagement at the club, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, meant it was unable to offer its talisman a new contract.
The Argentine won two Ligue 1 titles in his two seasons at PSG, but was unable to help the club win the Champions League for the first time in its history.
Messi’s time at the club ended acrimoniously after PSG suspended him for taking an unauthorized trip abroad, with the Argentine later apologizing.
Now a move back to the club where Messi turned from schoolboy to sporting legend is on the cards.
At 17 years old, he made his first of 778 appearances for the Blaugrana, becoming the youngest player to represent the club in an official game at the time.
He went on to break the club’s goalscoring record and won 35 trophies during his time at the Camp Nou – including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.
Under new coach and club legend Xavi, Barcelona this year won its first La Liga title in four years.
“For me, there’s no doubt that if Messi comes back, he will help us on a football level,” Xavi told Barcelona-based newspaper SPORT in a recent interview.
“I let the president [Joan Laporta] know this. I have no doubts, no doubt at all that he will help because he is still a decisive footballer, because he still has hunger, because he’s a winner, because he’s a leader and because, also, he’s a different, different player,” added Xavi, who told SPORT that he still talks to Messi.
“We don’t have a Barça on a talent level like 2010, for example. And what would Messi bring? He’d bring talent. Final pass, set pieces, goals … in the final third, he’s a player on a different level.
“As such, and because of the way I want to play, the way the staff wants to play too, for me there’s no doubt that he would help us a lot, but it all depends on him. In the end, the one who calls the shots at this time is Leo. There’s no doubt.”
by tyler | Jun 6, 2023 | CNN, football
Inter Milan and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku says the world’s top soccer stars could form a union to tackle racist abuse in the sport.
Speaking exclusively to CNN, Lukaku says authorities are currently not doing enough to protect players in the wake of yet more racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Jr. during Real Madrid’s match against Valencia last month.
Lukaku, who was racially abused when Inter Milan played against Juventus in April, said he watched the situation at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium unfold from his home and was left incredulous that these incidents continue to occur so frequently.
“I think it will start,” Lukaku told CNN’s Senior Sports Analyst Darren Lewis when asked whether players could form a union.
Lukaku says the idea would be for many of the world’s most prominent players “to come together and speak with UEFA and FIFA” directly, as well as the governing bodies for domestic leagues, about how best to tackle the ongoing “problem” of racism in the game.
“It’s really disappointing that it happens because we’re in 2023, the world is different cultures, different religions, different people of color and still we make the same mistakes all the time,” Lukaku added.
“That’s the thing that rubs me the wrong way because I always say, if we want the brand of football to be representative in this way, it also starts with the people above [authorities] that have to fight against this type of thing.
“For me, it really doesn’t happen enough, really in a strict manner that fans come to the stands and really respect people of different colors, people of different religions, sexuality, also online hate.
“I think you have to also attack that because a lot of players online get a lot of stuff said to them which is not nice. So then I say governments also have to start getting involved in that stuff, which doesn’t happen enough for me.”
Lukaku also called for “more diversity in positions of power” at the top of soccer.
In a statement sent to CNN, FIFA said it has “made important steps towards greater diversity” since reforms began in 2016 and said it currently had staff from 100 different countries, 40% of which were female.
FIFA, global soccer’s governing body, also supported Lukaku’s call for governments to get involved, saying education in schools was the first measure in its five-step plan to tackle racism in soccer.
FIFA pointed to the appointments of Senegal’s Fatma Samoura as Secretary General, Rwanda’s Martin Ngoga as chairman of the Ethics Committee, Ghana’s Anin Yeboah as deputy chairman of FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee and India’s Mukul Mugdal as chairman of the Governance Committee as “very diverse people” in “key positions” within the organization.
“That’s where you need to start, that’s where we need to have diversity,” Lukaku said of the upper echelons of the sport. “People of color, put them in the top of every boardroom and that’s when the change will start.
“That’s why, for example, in our Belgian federation, that’s where they started, they’re trying to put in people of color, different sexuality and stuff like that. So every situation that can happen, if it’s racial or every form or type of discrimination, can be attacked straight away.”
In 2021, the Belgian football federation (RBFA) launched the ‘Come Together’ action plan that focused partly on tackling discrimination and improving representation within the federation, including the addition of a Diversity Board.
“I think that’s how it should happen,” Lukaku added. “If you put people of different color in positions of power, I think things would get taken care of much faster than now.”
In a statement sent to CNN, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said: “No one should have to experience racist abuse, and we don’t want it on our apps. We take action whenever we find it and we’ve launched several ways to help protect people from having to see it in the first place.
“These include Hidden Words, which filters offensive comments and DMs and is on by default for creator accounts, and Limits, which hides comments and DMs from people who don’t follow you or only followed you recently.
“We know no one thing will fix abusive behaviour, but we’re committed to continuing working closely with the football industry to help keep our apps a safe place for footballers and fans.”
CNN has also reached out to Twitter and UEFA, European soccer’s governing body.
by tyler | Jun 2, 2023 | CNN, football
Referee Szymon Marciniak will officiate next weekend’s UEFA Champions League final after apologizing for his appearance at an event organized by a hardline right-wing Polish politician, the European football governing body confirmed in a statement on Friday.
According to the Guardian, Marciniak was a keynote speaker at an event entitled “Everest” organized by Slawomir Mentzen, the leader of the nationalist Confederation party in Katowice, Poland on Monday.
The party is known for its slogan, “We stand against Jews, gays, abortion, taxation and the European Union,” the Guardian reports.
UEFA says it launched an investigation after the Never Again Association, an anti-racist NGO in Poland, raised concerns about Marciniak’s participation in the event.
The association is affiliated with the Fare network – an umbrella organization which fights inequality in football.
Never Again’s co-founder had called on Marciniak to apologize, expressing shock over his “public association with Mentzen and his brand of toxic far-right politics,” the Guardian reports.
Marciniak, who refereed the World Cup final between Argentina and France in December, said he was “gravely misled and completely unaware” of the event’s affiliation.
“I want to express my deepest apologies for my involvement and any distress or harm it may have caused,” Marciniak said in a statement shared by UEFA.
“Upon reflection and further investigation, it has become evident that I was gravely misled and completely unaware of the true nature and affiliations of the event in question. I had no knowledge that it was associated (with) a Polish extreme-right movement,” he added.
UEFA said it acknowledged the referee’s “profound apologies,” adding that the Never Again Association had requested the referee remain in his role “firmly asserting that removing him would undermine the promotion of anti-discrimination.”
Marciniak will serve as the referee for the Champions League final match between Manchester City and Inter Milan on June 10 in Istanbul, Turkey.
by tyler | Jun 1, 2023 | CNN, football
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Lionel Messi will play his last game for the club on Saturday, coach Christophe Galtier told reporters on Thursday.
Messi’s current contract runs out in June and there has been much speculation about where he will be playing his football next season.
It had been expected that Messi would leave the Parisian side and Galtier confirmed as much ahead of the team’s last game of the season against Clermont Foot.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football. This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes,” Galtier confirmed.
Messi, 35, led Argentina to a World Cup title in Qatar and won the Ligue 1 title with PSG this season for a second year running.
Last month, signs of an increasingly fractious relationship between PSG and Messi were evident when he received a club-imposed suspension for taking an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia, resulting in a missed training session.
But Gaultier maintained that the criticism against the star player is not justified.
“This year, he has been an important part of the team, always available. I don’t think any of the comments or criticisms are justified,” Galtier said.
“He’s always been there for the team. It’s been a great privilege to accompany him throughout the season.”
On Saturday, as PSG sealed an 11th Ligue 1 title, Messi scored his 496th goal in Europe’s top five leagues, surpassing Ronaldo’s previous record of 495 goals.
Speculation about his future has been rife amid rumors of a lucrative deal in the Middle East, but Messi’s representatives have repeatedly declined to comment on his career beyond PSG.
by tyler | May 30, 2023 | CNN, football
After helping Paris Saint-Germain win its 11th Ligue 1 title at the weekend, Lionel Messi has some thinking to do.
With his contract at the Parisian club coming to an end in June and his relationship with the club seemingly at a breaking point, there is much speculation around where the Argentine will be playing his football next season.
In a recent interview with CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies, Messi said he would continue playing while he’s still enjoying it and, at 35, he certainly has a few more years to give.
Less than six months ago he was awarded the Golden Ball at the World Cup – the prize given to the best player in the tournament – and has scored 16 goals and provided 16 assists in this season’s league campaign.
Amid rumors of a lucrative deal to the Middle East and reports linking him with a move back to his beloved Barcelona, CNN Sport explores the different directions he could turn to as he approaches the twilight of his career.
Messi arrived in the French capital to much fanfare. He was to be the missing piece in the puzzle; the man to drive the team to its first ever Champions League trophy.
While Messi struggled with injury during his first season in Paris, he still managed to show flashes of his brilliance.
He helped the team win yet another Ligue 1 title, but PSG ultimately failed in the Champions League, being beaten by eventual champion Real Madrid in the round of 16.
His second season started much better and his link up play with the likes of Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappé was the envy of teams around the world.
But after his mesmerizing performances in winning the World Cup for Argentina in December 2022, he returned to yet more struggles on a domestic level.
In March, PSG was dumped out of the Champions League yet again in the round of 16 – this time by Bayern Munich.
It sparked a bitter end of the season and Messi was one of a number of star players to receive a hostile reaction from fans later that month.
Messi was then suspended for two weeks after leaving France to attend promotional events in Saudi Arabia; the unauthorized trip meant that he missed a training session.
Despite another title victory, a move to a new club looks more than likely.
The big question, though, is where?
The Catalan club is where Messi turned from school boy to sporting legend.
At 17 years old, he made his first of 778 appearances for the Blaugrana, becoming the youngest player to represent the club in an official game at the time.
He went on to break the club’s goalscoring record and won 35 trophies during his time at the Camp Nou – including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.
His emotional departure was fueled by the club’s dire financial state in 2021 and Messi was in tears as he said goodbye in his final press conference.
Under new coach and club legend Xavi, Barcelona has just won its first La Liga title in four years this year, with the club starting to look more competitive.
“For me, there’s no doubt that if Messi comes back, he will help us on a football level,” Xavi told Barcelona-based newspaper SPORT in a recent interview.
“I let the president [Joan Laporta] know this. I have no doubts, no doubt at all that he will help because he is still a decisive footballer, because he still has hunger, because he’s a winner, because he’s a leader and because, also, he’s a different, different player,” added Xavi, who told SPORT that he still talks to Messi.
“We don’t have a Barça on a talent level like 2010, for example. And what would Messi bring? He’d bring talent. Final pass, set pieces, goals … in the final third, he’s a player on a different level.
“As such, and because of the way I want to play, the way the staff wants to play too, for me there’s no doubt that he would help us a lot, but it all depends on him. In the end, the one who calls the shots at this time is Leo. There’s no doubt.”
Journalist Marcela Mora y Araujo, who is an expert on Argentine football, told CNN Sport that while a move to Barcelona would be a “fitting end” to his career, the transfer surely remains somewhat of a “fantasy” given the club is still strapped for cash.
“To end his playing days in his football home is quite romantic,” she said.
“The Barcelona temptation would be much more to do, perhaps, with his family. His kids were born there.
“The lifestyles of footballers’ children are often like kids of diplomats, where they spend a lot of their young lives traveling around the world and then, maybe in their late teens, they have a say and want to be somewhere where they’re happy and comfortable and have a good life. Saudi Arabia might be weird in that respect.
“I think that side – family life, daily life, diet, friends, language – then Barcelona would win. No question.”
Barcelona has made no attempt to hide its feelings toward Messi, but it would require a lot of work behind the scenes to make the signing a reality.
But huge deals with audio streaming service Spotify and global investment firm Sixth Street, among others, have helped the club claw its way back from the total financial disarray it found itself in following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In September 2022, Barcelona said it had recorded a profit of $98 million for the 2021/22 financial year and predicted profits of $298 million for this current season.
The club also announced the renegotiation of the $1.6 billion financial plan to repay the debt taken on to finance the renovation of its dilapidated Camp Nou stadium, meaning Barcelona will now pay off the debt five years earlier than originally planned.
Its ability to once again potentially pay big fees and big contracts to players, coupled with Messi’s impending departure, has fans dreaming of a potential return.
Saudi Arabia looks determined to attract the world’s biggest players as it attempts to build its reputation and improve the quality of the Saudi Pro League.
It’s fast becoming the biggest rival to the likes of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the US as a place for some of the world’s most beloved stars to finish their careers.
Earlier this year, Messi’s long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Saudi club Al Nassr for an eye-watering sum of money, perhaps paving the way for other superstars to follow suit.
A mind-boggling financial package could no doubt be offered to Messi who already has a good working relationship with the country – having previously fronted multiple tourism campaigns.
“I think money is always a factor in human decision making,” Mora y Araujo said, amid reports Saudi club Al Hilal was targeting Messi’s signature.
“I think a lot of people are saying Messi doesn’t need any more money, but I suspect that any offers that are going to compete with the Saudi offer will have to bear in mind the kind of hefty price tag attached.
“But Messi doesn’t seem particularly money driven. He seems someone that enjoys football still very much and for whom the pleasure of the game is an important factor.
“When he isn’t enjoying it, he tends to quit or say he’s going to quit or look forlorn. And when he is enjoying it, he shines and makes everybody love football.”
Crediting an unnamed source, AFP reported earlier this year that Messi playing in Saudi Arabia next season was a “done deal.”
However, Messi’s team told CNN Sport that such claims were false and that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner would not make a decision on his future until after the Ligue 1 season was over.
Mora y Araujo said a move to Saudi is probably the most likely, given it will allow Messi to focus on playing more for Argentina which seems to be his biggest motivating factor – even after winning the World Cup.
However, Messi might be put off by Ronaldo’s apparent struggles both on and off the pitch since his move to Saudi Arabia.
The Portuguese star has cut a frustrated figure at times this season and there are reports he’s already looking for a move away.
“Saudi Arabia’s bad image or bad press is a bigger deal in Europe than it is in the global South, I think,” said Mora y Araujo, referring to the Middle East country’s human rights record.
“Not to say that it isn’t commented upon or mentioned in the press … I don’t think his legacy would be tarnished just through playing in Saudi.
“I mean, obviously, if he goes on to do something really controversial, but he seems to be somebody who keeps quite a low profile politically speaking, and just gives his image to things.”
The list of potential suitors doesn’t stop with Barça or clubs from Saudi Arabia.
There is the well trodden path of superstar players moving to the MLS and reports have linked Messi with a potential move to David Beckham’s Inter Miami.
Beckham is a well known fan of Messi and, in 2019, teased, “You never know what can happen in football,” when asked about signing the Argentine one day.
There have been more serious links since, with UK newspaper The Times reporting in 2022 that a deal between the two parties was close.
There is also the option to return home to his beloved Argentina, which would no doubt welcome him with open arms.
Messi started his youth career at Newell’s Old Boys before being quickly snapped up by Barcelona, but Mora y Araujo said there is no expectation in Argentina that Messi would ever return home.
“I can’t see him playing at Newell’s Old Boys. I don’t think that the emotional tie between him and that club was forged enough. He left when he was very young,” she said.
“To have him back there would be lovely, but I’m not sure anyone minds particularly. I think the big pressure from Argentina was that he delivered for Argentina [at the World Cup] and he’s done that now.
“It would be amazing if he went back to play in Argentina, but it would just be so absurd because he really is from another league, as it were.”
Given its financial power, there has also been some speculation of a possible stint in the English Premier League with Manchester City.
The Premier League champion could offer a competitive package and reuniting with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola – who managed Messi during his peak years at the club – might be tempting.
However, despite all of his mercurial brilliance, a move to the Premier League at this time in his career may be a step too far and, as Mora y Araujo said, Messi has nothing to prove to anyone.
“I think the World Cup victory is like a beautiful fairytale ending for international football,” she said.
“I don’t think he needs to win anything else and he has nothing to prove, so it’s more a question of how he wants to spend his day job, what he wants to do every day.”
As it stands, Messi has many options and speculation will continue to swirl until a decision is made.
Wherever he decides to go, the eyes of the world are surely set to follow.
