Paris Saint-Germain has punished Lionel Messi for making an unauthorized personal promotional trip to Saudi Arabia.




Messi is said to have requested PSG for permission to fly to the country, which he did on Sunday night after postponing a scheduled commercial trip there twice earlier due to team defeats.


Messi, on the other hand, did not obtain such permission and has thus been suspended for two games and fined two weeks' salaries following a day of talks with the club's administration.


On Monday, the 35-year-old was photographed in Riyadh and announced his visit on social media. Messi is already a tourism ambassador in Saudi Arabia.


Messi will now miss the Ligue 1 matches against Troyes and Ajaccio, but he might return for the May 21 meeting against Auxerre.


Al Hilal, a Saudi Arabian club, aims to sign Messi this summer when his contract with PSG expires and is willing to give him an insane £400 million for just one season in order to sell a league that includes both Cristiano Ronaldo and the 2022 World Cup champion.


Barcelona's Move


Barcelona has already attempted to boost up their efforts to make a contract offer to Messi this summer by negotiating with LaLiga how to generate additional flexibility in their Financial Fair Play ratio.


Nonetheless, the club is working with that goal in mind, and they have been encouraged by the recent lack of progress in Messi's contract negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain.