Promoters force Barca u-turn, Messi to play against all-stars

Spanish champions Barcelona performed a u-turn under pressure from promoters on Tuesday and said that Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi would after all play in a match against an all-star team on Wednesday.

Their decision came just hours after Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had revealed that Messi – whose World Cup ended in disappointment as the Argentinians were humbled 4-0 by Germany in the quarter-finals – would not feature as he had just returned from holiday and was not match fit.

However, following a hastily-arranged meeting with the promoters, the Catalan club issued a statement saying that Messi would after all play a role.

“The promoters of the tournament and Barcelona representatives held a meeting in which the matter of Leo Messi playing in the match was raised,” read the statement.

“In the light of the good progress shown by the player in the last training session and that there will be another one before the match, the coaching staff believe that it is fine for the Argentinian striker to play for a few minutes of the match.”

The Spanish press claimed, though, that it was only because Messi was compelled to play ‘for at least half-an-hour’ under the terms of the tournament contract otherwise Barcelona would receive no money.

According to sports daily Marca the organisers put pressure on Barcelona and even threatened to cancel the match. Local television had equally threatened not to transmit the match with only as they called it a Barcelona B team taking the field without Messi.

Guardiola had been firm earlier in the day when he ruled out Messi taking any part.

“He (Messi) will not play,” said Guardiola, who has guided Barca to two successive league titles as well as the 2009 Champions League and the 2009 Spanish Cup.

“He has trained just once, and is not yet ready to play. To play him would be risky. He would have played if he had been in shape.”

Guardiola, whose side will play in green their first new away strip since the 1996-97 season, said if Barcelona failed in their bid to sign Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas he was confident the players already in the squad could reap more success next season.

“The transfer window closes at the end of the month. We have not excluded the possibility that he will come, nor that he will not come,” said Guardiola.

“If we can do something then we will do it, but if we have to do without him we will make do with the players who have come through the youth system, because they have given us enough assurance already.”