Hello, to everyone reading this petition!

Today, the football world was shocked by the news that Lionel Messi left FC Barcelona. The most shocking and disappointing detail in this whole ordeal though was not the fact that FCB and Messi parted ways, but the reason this happened.

As it seems so far, according to FC Barcelona’s official Instagram account, the reason the Spanish giants couldn’t resign Messi was the Financial Fair Play(FFP).

“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles(Spanish Liga regulations)” - was the official post of FCBarcelona Instagram account.

This petition is made for the sole purpose of asking La Liga to make an exception to the rules of FFP or for the organization to be more “flexible” with these regulations.

Reasons:

1)From a financial standpoint of view, this would benefit La Liga immensely. Messi is the icon of, not only FC Barcelona but Spanish football as a whole. Many people all over the world, watch La Liga just to see Messi play. According to “Onda Cero”(a very reliable source), even Real Madrid - Barcelona’s greatest rivals, wants Messi to stay in the league.

By “Tribuna”:

Tribuna link

“…The Whites reckon that Messi staying in La Liga is essential for the marketing potential and value of the league, it's reported. The Argentine could drive additional income to all parties involved, which would be critical to clubs like Real Madrid, as they have been affected by the pandemic.

Thus, Onda Cero says that Madrid wants to ask La Liga whether there is any 'flexibility' about the regulations which are currently impending his registration…”

2)It’s no secret to any football fan, that Lionel Messi is one of the best, if not THE best football player in history. He is a living football legend. One of the few players that are respected by their opponents. What makes him unique though, are not only his skills on the pitch, but his character off the pitch too.

Loyalty - that’s what makes him a LEGEND in the eyes of the football world. No matter the circumstances, he always showed his love for FC Barcelona.

Despite the shattering defeats in the recent years, despite humiliating losses that his team took, despite his ability to leave FCB and go to clubs that weren’t in such difficult and transitioning phases and where he could reportedly be earning more than double the money he was getting in FCB, he stood firm.

He spent his “prime” footballing years in a tormented Barcelona team, showing his Loyalty and affection to the club that raised him and made him great.

In this materialistic world, he chose the difficult path and remained true to his principles.

He chose loyalty over money.

He chose to enter the Hall of Fame of such legends like Puyol, Paolo Maldini, Ryan Giggs, Franco Baresi, Francesco Totti, and others…

And he WILL be remembered as a Barcelona legend.

But the fact that he can’t continue to play for Barca, despite wanting to do so, is just infuriating.

And the reason? A financial law… A law that wants to deny us the possibility to see Lionel Messi - arguably(not for me) the G.O.A.T. - play his last game in a Barcelona shirt and retire under a standing ovation of 100.000 FOOTBALL fans!

I ask all of you, for the better of the whole football world, to sign this petition.

Raise awareness.

Make the impossible become possible.

Football must WIN!

"We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it conforms to the highest traditions of a free society to offer resistance to bad laws and to disobey them." – Alexander Bickel (1924 - 1974) American law professor and expert on the United States Constitution.

                                                                                  ~ A fan from Greece.