AP Source: Lionel Messi set to leave PSG at end of season
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The news comes a day after PSG suspended the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner following his trip to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission. Messi has a commercial contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism in the Middle Eastern country and has been linked with a lucrative move there at the end of the season. It also exposes the tensions now that Qatar and Saudi Arabia — gulf neighbors and fierce recent rivals in regional politics — have become major influencers in the world of soccer. Other aspects of the trip included “feeding the indigenous Arabian gazelles,” while the Messis apparently also were “charmed by the authenticity and architecture of At-Turaif and the beauty of the Arabian horses.” It would make interesting reading for PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of QSI and beIN Media Group, which has been the victim of broadcasting piracy in Saudi Arabia in recent years.