Barcelona striker Lionel Messi on Friday sensationally accused Barca Vice President Javier Faus, who earlier this month said he saw no reason to improvedMessi’s contract “every six months,” of being a businessman “who knows nothing about soccer.” In an interview, the 26-year-old told RAC1 that Team Messi had not demandeda new contract.
“Mr. Faus is someone who knows nothing about soccer, and wants to run Barca like it was a business, which it is not,” Messi said. “Barca is the best team in the world, anddeserves to be represented by the best directors. And I remind him that neither I nor anyone from my camp have asked for a new contract — and he knows that well.”
Speculation has been rifethat Messi’s father Jorge has been trying to shake more money out of Barca, especially given his recent tax woes as well as the scandal surrounding the alleged use of‘Messi and Friends’ as a vehicle for drug money laundering.
Messi had this to say about those allegations: “I am very sorry about what they are saying, not just about me butabout people I love like my papa and players who are friends,” he said. “What we do in these games is 100 percent for charity. I am deeply united with my dad and my family, in the personal and theprofessional. I concentrate on playing soccer, and he concentrates on my off-field interests, and selecting the best professionals to help us.”