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The Saudi ambassador was a ghost as his employers put a dent in his country’s bid for its first World Cup title since 1978.
As the Qatar 2022 World Cup rages on, Lionel Messi’s involvement with the Gulf States has come under scrutiny again.
His relationship with the Qatari government is well known, and it played a role in his decision to join the Qatar-backed PSG after his fairytale with Barcelona came to an end. However, according to reports from The Athletic, he has also been in bed with Saudi Arabia, one of Qatar's neighbors.
This year, the Saudi state leased Messi's services to promote tourism in their nation ahead of a proposed bid for the hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup, among other recent sport-related projects, and according to reports, there were more ads running on Saudi TV ahead of the World Cup showing Messi encouraging tourism in the country than there were of the national team itself.
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Despite Messi’s role as an ambassador for Saudi Arabia, he also pledged his support as an ambassador for Argentina’s bid to host the World Cup in the same year, which has caused confusion as to where his loyalties actually lie in this clear conflict of interest. With the money, or with his country?
He and his team have declined to comment about the clash in priorities, and it is possible that they never considered it while accepting a hefty payday from a country currently embroiled in several accusations of human rights violations.
Messi's contract with Saudi Arabia does not specifically state that he will support the nation's bid to host the World Cup, but it does support the nation's overarching objective of enhancing its sporting presence globally by the year 2030, and it is hard to imagine that his image will not be used to promote the centerpiece of Saudi’s Project 2030.
To achieve their goal of a more tolerant state, Saudi Arabia has made a number of moves, including making Messi the face of their tourism, purchasing Newcastle United, launching the lucrative but contentious LIV golf league, paying $650 million to host Formula One races, and scheduling the 2019 heavyweight boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, but the use of Messi’s image is perhaps their biggest move in recent years.
The Argentine legend has publicly expressed his support for Saudi Arabia, including through posts on his Instagram created in a paid collaboration with the Saudi Tourism Authority subsidiary "VisitSaudi."
He has also been pictured several times in Saudi Arabia, sometimes with the monarchy, and has his own landing page on the Visit Saudi website, as his support for them has not waned so far, not even when they caused Argentina heartache.
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Saudi Arabia opened its 2022 World Cup group campaign against Messi's Argentina and caused one of the greatest World Cup upsets despite Messi’s goal from the spot. Overall, the 35-year-old former Barcelona man was poor by his standards, as Argentina lost their opening game of the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
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