Lionel Messi Issues Statement After PSG Suspension: 'I Apologize to My Teammates'

Legendary soccer star Lionel Messi apologized to his Paris Saint-Germain teammates Friday for missing a training session on Monday in favor of traveling to Saudi Arabia for a promotional appearance.

World football insider Fabrizio Romano tweeted video of Messi's statement and translated part of it to English, including his apology:

ESPN's Julien Laurens reported this week that PSG suspended Messi two weeks without pay for skipping training without receiving permission from the club.

PSG manager Christophe Galtier reportedly told players they could have Monday and Tuesday off if they defeated Lorient on Sunday. Knowing he had an obligation in Saudi Arabia, Messi was reportedly able to get Galtier to give him permission to miss training if PSG won or played to a draw.

Instead, Lorient scored a 3-1 upset win, handing Paris Saint-Germain their third loss in four matches.

Despite not receiving clearance to miss training after a loss, Messi made the trip to Saudi Arabia anyway, which "created tensions" in the locker room and made some of his teammates "unhappy," per Laurens.

The controversy comes amid a time of great uncertainty regarding Messi's future with the club.

Romano reported Wednesday that there are now "no doubts" Messi will leave PSG once his contract expires during the summer.

Telegraph Sport later reported that the Saudi Arabian government is preparing an offer that would pay Messi $400 million (£320 million) per year to play in the Saudi Pro League, which would be the richest contract in soccer history.

Messi has also reportedly garnered interest from FC Barcelona, which is the club he spent his first 17 seasons with before departing for PSG when Barca could no longer afford him because of financial issues.

Barcelona will not be able to compete with Saudi Arabia's reported offer, though, meaning two of the greatest soccer players of all time in Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could soon call Saudi Arabia their soccer home.

Even at 35 years of age, Messi is still near the top of his game, as he led Argentina to a World Cup win last year and was named the player of the tournament.

Messi does only have 15 Ligue 1 goals for PSG this season, though, after scoring only six times last season. Even so, PSG won the 2021-22 Ligue 1 title and is in position to repeat.

PSG are atop the Ligue 1 table with 75 points, putting them five points ahead of Marseille with five matches left to play.

Under the conditions of Messi's suspension, he would seemingly be permitted to return to the club for their third-to-last match of the Ligue 1 season against Auxerre on May 21.