Messi donates over $200,000 to sports facility in Argentina

Buenos Aires, Jan 21 (IANS/EFE):

Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi donated nearly 1 million pesos (about $202,000) to a sports facility used by children from low-income families in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, his foundation said.

The money donated by the FC Barcelona striker will be used to improve the Deliot sports complex in Rosario, located about 300 km from Buenos Aires, allowing children to “have a special place for sports, education, training and culture”, the Leo Messi Foundation said.

The foundation, which is run by the soccer player and his family, seeks to improve “the well-being of young people and the community”, the foundation said on its Facebook page.

This is not the first time the 25-year-old Messi, who just won a fourth consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or as the world’s best soccer player, has provided funds for community projects in his hometown.

The Leo Messi Foundation, the FC Barcelona Foundation and Organizacion Social Team recently renovated another sports facility in Rosario used by about 10,000 young people.

Messi was born in a lower-middle-class section of Rosario and began his soccer career with a neighbourhood team.