Kolkata: It was just two days back that FIFA announced the four match ban on Argentine star Lionel Messi. And quite expectedly, Argentina missed his services against Bolivia which outsmarted the 2014 World Cup finalist by a 2-0 margin. However Messi’s club, FC Barcelona has stood in support of its premier striker and has condemned the ban as being “unfair and totally disproportionate.”
“FC Barcelona expresses its surprise and indignation at the decision by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to suspend Leo Messi following the FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture between Argentina and Chile” said the Catalan giants. The La Liga heavyweights further added, “The club considers the four-match suspension imposed on the Argentine player to be unfair and totally disproportionate.”
Messi, was handed the ban after he had allegedly abused a match official during Argentina’s World Cup Qualifier match against Chile last week. Not only the suspension but the star forward was fined 10,000 Swiss francs which amounts to 8,104 pounds by the FIFA’s disciplinary panel.
After the match against Bolivia, Messi would still have to stay away from the action for three more games – the away fixture against Uruguay and the home games against Venezuela and Peru. He would be eligible to return to on-field action on October 10 when Argentina is slated to play against Ecuador, its last fixture in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Quite interestingly, Messi would be seen in action for Argentina on June 9 against Brazil at the MCG in Australia despite the ban. Argentina which lost 1-0 against the Germans in the 2014 World Cup final now stands in the fifth position in the World Cup qualifying group, a solitary point behind the automatic qualification spots.
The top four automatically would make it to the World Cup next year in Russia and the fifth placed side would have to battle it out against a team from Oceania for a place in the global footballing extravaganza.
If things are looked at from a different perspective, then Barcelona coming out in support of the five-time Ballon D’Or winner is a way of ensuring the fact that the star striker continues his stay at the Catalan club. Messi, is yet to pen a new deal with Barcelona extending his stay at Camp Nou and the club is leaving absolutely no stone unturned to retain its best player. “Finally, FC Barcelona wishes to reiterate its support for Leo Messi, an exemplary player in terms of conduct, both on and off the pitch,” was the club’s statement.
Praising the best player in the world and standing by him in difficult times is the ideal way of requesting the maestro to extend his stay in the club. Only time would tell whether efforts like this would bear fruit or not. As of now, his country would dearly miss him in the next qualifier matches as Argentina lacks that spark and brilliance without the presence of the Messi on the pitch.
(With inputs from Reuters)