On Monday night, Lionel Messi won a record-breaking eighth Ballon d’Or, beating out the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to the award. It was also a special night for former club Barcelona, whose women’s side won the Women Club of the Year award, which was accepted by Joan Laporta.
With Messi and Laporta both at the ceremony in Paris, Gerard Romero’s Jijantes claimed that the pair met on the night to discuss the tribute ceremony for the Argentine, which he did not get when leaving Barcelona back in 2021. However, this reports has been denied by Messi himself, who called out Romero for lying in an Instagram story post.
🚨 Lionel Messi responds to Gerard Romero's claims that Messi and Laporta spoke at the Ballon d'Or gala. Messi says "You're lying… once more… 🤥". pic.twitter.com/5YAROIUBgy
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 31, 2023
Romero responded to Messi on X, issuing a heartfelt apology for “being fooled again” by something related to the 36-year-old. He also said that something like this would not happen again.
MIL DISCUPAS a todos, y MIL MÁS.
Me han vuelto a engañar con algo relacionado con LEO. No aprendo. Lo siento. MUY jodido.
Asumo todo los que hoy me digáis y prometo que trabajaremos para que no vuelva a ocurrir.
Disculpas https://t.co/j1lM5kvV0Q
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) October 31, 2023
Messi will not have given Barcelona much thought over the last few months since he rejected a return after leaving Paris Saint-Germain. He will get a tribute ceremony at some stage, although it probably won’t be for a while yet.
