Soccer

Soccer

Messi Signs 2-Year Contract with PSG Club

Aug 10, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

Source: Lionel Messi, PSG Agree to 2-Year, $104M Contract After Barcelona Exit (link)

Lionel Messi has reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain and will soon make his move to the French capital official following a shocking exit from Barcelona. According to Sky Sports, Messi plans to sign a two-year deal with a net salary of £25 million per season ($34.6 million). The contract also includes a £25 million fee at signing and a third-year option at £25 million.

Back in July, Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens of ESPN initially reported that Messi had agreed to a five-year extension to remain at Barcelona while taking a significant wage reduction. However, since then the club wasn't able to fit his contract into its wage limit for 2021-22, and it announced on Aug. 5 that Messi would leave after 17 years.

Despite obvious interest from top clubs in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain landed Messi to continue an impressive transfer window that also included the additions of Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi and Gianluigi Donnarumma. With Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and fellow Argentine Mauro Icardi among others already on the roster, PSG is the likely favorite for both Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

People Arrested Over Racial Abuse of England Players

Jul 15, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

Source: Police arrest 4 over racist abuse of England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka (link)

Four people have been arrested over online racist abuse aimed at members of the England team after Sunday's Euro 2020 final, British police said on Thursday.

A specialist team is looking into the offensive comments, police said, after three Black players -- Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka -- were targeted with racist abuse on social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. All three missed penalties in the penalty-shootout defeat against Italy at Wembley stadium in London.

The abuse has been widely condemned, and the U.K. government has promised action against social media companies if they do not remove offensive material more quickly. A hate crime investigation led by the UK Football Policing Unit is underway; police said dozens of data applications had been submitted to tech firms and that four people have been arrested so far.

Even before the finals, England players had previously highlighted the issue of racism by taking a knee before their matches, a protest that some fans booed. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to tackle online abuse, but he and other ministers have been accused of hypocrisy for not condemning those who booed the players at the start of the tournament.

Police also said there were 897 football-related incidents and 264 arrests in the 24 hours around the final, a big increase on previous soccer tournaments in 2016 and 2018.