Barcelona appeal to overturn Lionel Messi’s booking for Maradona tribute

Lionel Messi’s yellow appealed for overturn

The footballing world stood in shock as Argentina and Napoli legend, footballing icon, Diego Maradona passed away last week. The Argentine was considered equal to god in the beautiful nation of Argentina and the whole nation declared a three-day mourning holiday set for the legend. Everyone, including Lionel Messi, was in absolute shock as the game truly lost a huge contributor to its legacy and an absolute gem.

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To grieve and pay homage to such an incident, Lionel Messi took his shirt off to display Maradona’s iconic Newell’s jersey after scoring a goal in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory against Osasuna in the La Liga. However, he was awarded a yellow card for that particular action. He did not seem bothered as a fellow Argentine, he must have had the same feeling of pain as the whole nation faced after they received the news.

Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman, thinks that the 33-year-old playmaker should not have been awarded a yellow for that move. The Dutchman believes that it was an honest tribute. The former Everton manager believes that Lionel Messi should not have been booked as he was paying a humble tribute to one of the game’s greatest legends and the fact that it was an honest way of grieving, the 33-year-old had absolutely no intention of breaking the rules of the game.

However, the law states that a yellow card has to be awarded if any player takes their official jersey off during the whole of 90 minutes plus added time. However, the former Southampton manager thinks that Lionel Messi should be excused and an exception for this particular incident has to be made. Hence, Football Club Barcelona have appealed to La Liga in order to overturn the yellow card that was awarded to the Argentine legend.

Diego Maradona was, arguably, one of the greatest attackers this game has ever seen. Possibly the very best. He is worshipped like a god in the big wide nation of Argentina. However, the game moves on. A beautiful sight took place as footballers, coaches, clubs, staff, managers all came together from all over the world to wish Diego Maradona a wholehearted goodbye. This goes on to prove that football is, was, and always will be more than just a game.

Do you think Messi’s yellow should be overturned?