"I hate you so much because I loved you so much."
Banner in Figo, Madrid, at the Camp Nou
Come on, Leo, come on. Go see the widow of the dismembered Khashoggi, knock on the door of the parents of Mustafa Hashem al Darwish, whose son had his head cut off for having participated in a protest against the Saudi regime when he was 16 years old, the same age as you when you debuted for Barça. Go talk to the families of the 81 people your new best friends just executed, all beheaded in one day, Saturday March 12th.
Go ahead and tell them how nice it was to pose for photos on the beach last week in your new role as “tourism ambassador” for Saudi Arabia. Show them the message you sent on Instagram: “Discovering the Red Sea in Saudi. Discovering the Red Sea
More, hopefully, of the 190 million euros that your other employers, the Qataris of Paris Saint-Germain, pay Beckham to promote the World Cup and tourism in their country. If not, they're looking at your stupid face, and that would be a shame, right, Leo? Much more shameful for you, of course, than selling the misery of soul that you have left to Mohamed bin Salman, favorite son of the king, murderer, torturer, oppressor of women, executioner of gays, friend of Putin and absolute power in the blessed Saudi nation.
I confess that the one who feels ashamed is me. A lot. When people asked me what team I was from, I had been saying for years that my team is you. Poor me – ridiculous me – I have said the following words more than once: “Messi is the closest thing I have to a religion”. Never more. As a footballer I never saw anyone better, no one who gave me more pleasure, for more years, with the ball at my feet. But as a person… I always harbored the suspicion that you were a little asshole. I sensed it both times I interviewed you, total waste of time. But I didn't want to see it. Or I saw him and thought, “What difference does he make? I'm not worthy to shine your shoes. He is a deity and deities are not measured like the rest of mortals.”
What happens to you footballers? They earn so much but they always want more, it doesn't matter if Satan himself pays them. You earned 120 million euros last year. Is not sufficient? I know you have to feed the parasites of King Leo's court. But do they need so much? And do they care as little as you do that the twine you give them is soaked in blood? I guess they don't give a fuck, as long as it can be traded for bifes de chorizo, jars of dulce de leche, mansions in Paris, and Lamborghinis.
They don't even know, of course. The same, in the cage of ignorance in which you live, you do not find out. Or you don't want to find out, because last year they wrote to you to explain who you were messing with. Do you remember the petition sent to you last year by an organization called Grant Liberty, on behalf of relatives of “Saudi Arabian prisoners of conscience?” I'll pass you the extracts translated into Argentine, to make it less difficult for you.
“Don't do it, Messi”, they begged you. “You have enormous power and with that power comes enormous responsibility. The Saudi regime wants to use you to whitewash its reputation… If you say yes to 'Visit Saudi' you are in effect saying 'yes' to all the human rights abuses happening in Saudi Arabia today. But if you say 'no' you will send an equally powerful message, that human rights are important, that those who torture and kill do not do so with impunity. Lionel Messi you are a hero for millions, please he uses your status for good”.
You used it for evil. For decent people, tourism and torture don't mix. For you yes, as for your new masters, whose lives you have made happy. "I'm happy to welcome Lionel," the Saudi tourism minister told you last week. "This is not his first visit to the Kingdom and it will not be his last."
No, sure not. Do not stop the party. Silver is silver, no matter where it comes from, right? Oh Leo, my fallen idol. I would like to say thank you for the memories. But you shit on them and I can't anymore.
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