Once again, an exclusive from this newspaper reaches international echoes.
The publication of the pharaonic contract that FC Barcelona gave to Lionel Messi four years ago, plagued with servile clauses towards the player that have seriously questioned the club's survival, has been echoed around the world.
From the moment we landed our cover, the repercussion soared beyond our borders.
Prestigious foreign newspapers -of course,
the press ar
gentina- welcomed our information in clear evidence of public interest and the inherent relevance of the historical figures, the unprecedented conditions of the contract and what they have meant for Barça.
Of course, there have also been criticisms.
Otherwise, we would not have done our job well: THE WORLD has a commitment to the truth, and the truth always bothers those who do not want it to be known.
Some critics place us pulling the strings of a conspiracy that would try to sink Barça into discredit.
This has made us remember how, after our revelations of
Football leaks
, we were accused of wanting to destabilize Real Madrid by discovering the corrupt network that surrounded Cristiano Ronaldo.
The mechanism of the campaign against us is similar, despite the fact that today's context is very different from then.
As far as we know, there is nothing illegal in Messi's contract, but it is not alien to the logical public judgment for his
burdensome and damaging consequences for one of the most prestigious sports institutions in the history of football
.
EL MUNDO does not understand t-shirts, it only belongs to its readers.
Once again, too, they are trying to intimidate us.
The FC Barcelona board of directors threatened yesterday to take "legal action against EL MUNDO for the damages it may cause as a result of this publication and the player" and, as it transpired, Messi himself values suing the newspaper along with "the five people who they were aware of this contract.
What neither party has dared is to question the veracity of our
information.
From here we can affirm without fear that we have always treated the FC Barcelona star and the club with the utmost respect.
We have never disparaged the footballer or violated any of his rights.
We must emphasize that our newspaper exercises its work protected by jurisprudence to disseminate information of such relevance and undoubted public interest that prevail, in the event of a collision, over an alleged violation of privacy that is not such.
Messi's contract exemplifies the way of managing a group of administrators who with little loyalty to their company and no regard for the fans -they forgot that they ran a sports entity-
has plunged the club into technical bankruptcy and an institutional crisis
.
They embarked on a ruinous journey with erratic signings, with long and million-dollar renewals of players in the twilight of their careers and, to make matters worse, without a sound and solid structure that could maintain that economic train.
THE WORLD has fulfilled its obligation, and we will continue to do so.
In the next few days we will publish more revelations that show that Messi's contract was a premonitory ruin, including implausible clauses like the one we unveiled today: he is assured of the payment of 39 million in July as the second tranche of a loyalty bonus even in the case that he was no longer in the club, remember that he was about to leave last summer.
Our commitment is to the readers, however uncomfortable it may be.
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