Details of Messi’s unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia emerged

There has been quite a lot of controversy around Lionel Messi’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

Messi and his family reportedly set off for Saudi Arabia following Sunday’s match against Lorient without club consent.

He was consequently suspended by PSG for two weeks and forfeiture of a fortnight wages amid links away from the Club.

Details have now emerged that the itinerary of the trip includes feeding gazelles and visiting a luxury retail complex, this according to a release from the Middle East state’s tourism authority.

A release issued on behalf of the Saudi Tourism Authority on Wednesday said Messi and his family had “indulged in a fine-dining experience” at the Al Bujairi Terrace.

It also noted that Messi had visited the VIA Riyadh luxury retail complex and the 300-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site in Diriyah after Messi and the family had been to a farm where they fed Arabian gazelles.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Amnesty International said that Messi’s ambassador role with Saudi Arabia was part of the country’s “aggressive sportswashing programme”, with Saudi authorities “seeking to exploit the celebrity appeal of elite sport to deflect attention from the country’s appalling human rights record