Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has publicly revealed to the world that he will not be attending the Fifa Ballon d’Or ceremony on January 12, despite their star player Lionel Messi being a finalist for the much coveted prize.
Announcing this in a recent press conference, the Blaugrana president emphasised football’s world governing body’s decision to slap the Catalan giants with a two-window transfer ban as the deciding factor behind him opting against traveling to Zurich for the gala on Monday.
After breaching regulations regarding the transfer and registration of minors, Barcelona cannot sign any new player until January of 2016. Despite appealing Fifa’s sanction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the ban was upheld by the judicial body.
“FIFA has not told us who made the original charge and during the period of the sanction we will not maintain any institutional relations with them,” Bartomeu stated.
“I have sent a stern letter to Sepp Blatter and I will not be attending the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala set for January 12.
“This is not the end of the matter. I foresee the Barca case becoming a watershed in the football world, just like the Bosman case. However long it lasts, we will not lose this case.”
The big question now is what does this mean for Messi? The Argentine is in contention for the Ballon d’Or, facing off against Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer, but remains unknown whether La Pulga and his fellow Barcelona team-mates will follow suit of Bartomeu and be a no-show on Monday.
The 27-year-old attacker, who is reportedly eyeing a Camp Nou exit in favor of a move to Chelsea due to a rift between him and manager Luis Enrique, is also one of 10 Barcelona players nominated for a spot in the FIFA FIFPRO World XI.
This includes Claudio Bravo, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
