As England’s Lions’ give away their national team fees to cancer research, a whole bunch of money is being lodged in the direction of certain teams in Spain to ensure that they, well, do their job- namely, win. As one of the tightest La Liga title races in history comes to its dramatic close, the teams in question-Barcelona and Real Madrid-are hurling bucket loads of money in the direction of their rival’s opponents. Sources say Barca offered Zaragoza $67,000 per man last weekend to beat Real. And this is actually an accepted practice in Spain as long as nobody’s paying anybody to lose, but it’s usually something teams keep mum about.
Not Barcelona starlet Leo Messi. On the day after he very blatantly cheated by punching the ball into the back of the net unbeknownst to the match officials, Messi said Barcelona should pay Mallorca players (who face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Sunday) all it can to ensure that the Merengues’ lose. The 19-year-old may have become the driving force behind Barca’s title bid this season, but a player who so blatantly handles the ball into the net — “These are simply things that happen in a game,” he said — really ought to keep his mouth shut when it comes to the shady matter of paying off another club to perform well.
Juxtapose Leo Messi’s comments with the English national team’s decision to keep quiet about a genuine act of philanthropy, and you see that soccer, like the real world, is comprised of all types, too.