SAN FRANCISCO, November 30, (THEWILL) – La Liga club Barcelona are facing a €3,000 fine after talismanic Argentine captain Lionel Messi paid tribute to Argentina’s football legend Diego Armando Maradona by celebrating in a Newell’s Old Boys shirt on Sunday.
THEWILL had earlier reported that to celebrate his goal against Osasuna in Sunday’s 4-0 drubbing, Messi took off Barcelona’s blue-and-burgundy strip to reveal the red-and-black of Newell’s which he wore underneath.
Maradona, who died of a heart attack last week at the age of 60, played for Newell’s, the Argentine football club based in Rosario, Santa Fe, at the end of his storied career.
Messi had also worn the same shirt at the start of his own career. That fact made the gesture a most fitting tribute to the idolised Maradona.
However, the emotional tribute contravened the rules of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The FA is now poised to fine Barca for Messi’s celebration to the tune of €3,000 as a penalty.
