The Ugly Nature of Sports Business
For fans of my generation all over the world, Lionel Messi defines soccer.
Soccer fans have argued through the past decade over who the greatest player of our generation is: Ronaldo, Zidane, the list goes on. But in my mind, Messi stands head and shoulders above the rest – a 5-foot-7 soccer giant. He plays with the ball like a dancer, swaying through defenders as if they’re nothing more than fading mirages as he glides by. Every time the Barcelona magician touches the ball, the crowd collectively holds its breath, daring him to try something new.
In the world of soccer, Messi is soccer. And that makes Barcelona’s actions over the past month all the more insidious.
Messi has spent his entire career at Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in the sport. He moved from his native Argentina to Spain to play for the club at age 13, and never looked back, winning 11 La Liga titles, six Copa Del Reys and four Champions Leagues.
There’s no question – Lionel Messi is the greatest player Barcelona has ever seen.
So, when Messi announced that he wanted to leave Barcelona this summer, the soccer world seemed on the brink of implosion. Barcelona had suffered calamitous losses in the UEFA Champions League (the most prestigious trophy in Europe) over the past few years – but this year was different. Barcelona crumpled in the quarterfinals, shipping eight goals (EIGHT) in an 8-2 defeat to German giants and ultimate Champions League winners Bayern Munich.
To make matters worse, Barcelona had been on a steady march toward this year’s collapse, wasting money on poorly planned transfers left and right. Messi was tired, and he wanted to try something new, away from the angry boardroom political atmosphere of the Spanish club. In fact, he had a clause in his contract that he believed allowed him to leave. But when push came to shove, Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu refused to let him go. Messi had a choice – stay or fight the club in court.
And he decided to stay.
In an exclusive interview with Goal.com last week, he shared his frustration with the organization – but he ultimately couldn’t take the club he loves to the courtroom.
“There was another way and it was to go to trial,” Messi said. “I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived. It is the club of my life; I have made my life here.”
Barcelona is effectively holding the greatest player in the world – maybe the greatest player in history – as a sports hostage. He won’t fight it because he loves the club that raised him, but this saga brings the ugly underbelly of the sports world to light.
“I felt a lot of pain that my commitment to Barcelona was doubted, with how grateful I am to this club,” Messi said. “I love Barcelona and I’m not going to find a better place than here anywhere. Still, I have the right to decide. I was going to look for new goals and new challenges. And tomorrow I could go back, because here in Barcelona I have everything. My sons, my family, they grew up here and are from here. There was nothing wrong with wanting to leave. I needed it, the club needed it and it was good for everyone.”
As sports fans, it is easy to get caught up in the emotion of the game, the connection between fans and players and local identity that make sports such a unique spectacle. We watch players like Messi and Kobe Bryant take our breath away with their talent – and we forget that they’re people just like we are, trying to make a life for themselves in the center of a commercial monster.
Just like we often do, Messi is finding himself trapped between those two poles, stuck between his love for his team and the coldness of a president that cares nothing for the career he’s given to Barcelona.
Sports teams market themselves as beacons of moral power, as connection points for the local community. No Barcelona fan would ever question Messi’s dedication to the team that has given him his career, his reputation – everything. When ugly business decisions like Barcelona’s current strategy come to the forefront, however, the truth comes out.
Sports may be about art and magic — that’s why we love them. But many sports teams don’t see it that way.
And that’s sad.
John Nekrasov is the Sports Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @john_nekrasov.