Lionel Messi sat out Barcelona’s opening preseason training session Monday, sources told Agence France-Presse correspondent Tom Allnutt, further escalating tensions between the player and club.
Messi’s legal team argues he’s unilaterally terminated his contract with Barcelona and doesn’t need to show up to training, ESPN’s Sam Marsden reports.
The 33-year-old already instructed the club’s higher-ups Sunday that he wouldn’t undergo the necessary coronavirus testing to participate in training.
Ivan Rakitic, who’s reportedly set to return to Sevilla, also missed Monday’s session, according to Allnutt.
A court case is now looming over Messi and Barcelona, as the two sides insist on different interpretations of a now-infamous clause in the Argentine’s contract that may or may not allow him to leave on a free transfer.
The club reportedly maintains the clause in question expired in June and that any team interested in signing Messi must activate his €700-million release clause.
La Liga backed up Barcelona’s version of events, saying in a statement Sunday that it will not sanction a transfer if the buyout fee isn’t paid in full.
Barcelona reportedly believe Messi can only leave on a free transfer if he agrees to sit out the entire 2020-21 season.
Manchester City are apparently confident they have the inside track on signing Messi and are prepared to spend up to €150 million.
BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson didn’t look like the reigning NFL MVP until after he threw an ugly interception in the Ravens’ intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium.
Jackson completed 14 of 26 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but he finished on a hot streak after getting picked off by undrafted rookie Nigel Warrior on an underthrown deep pass.
Shaking off that turnover, he connected on six of his last eight passes for two touchdowns, including a 40-yarder to Marquise Brown. Scrambling to his right, Jackson uncorked the deep throw to Brown in the end zone.
La Liga has made it known that any potential suitors for Lionel Messi should be prepared to pony up €700 million.
The top flight of Spanish football released a statement Sunday in support of Barcelona’s claims that a unilateral agreement in Messi’s contract that would permit a departure this summer on a free transfer expired on June 26.
“In line with the regulations and procedure that apply in such instances, La Liga shall not proceed with the release required for the player to be deregistered from the Spanish Football Federation unless the aforementioned clause has been paid,” the statement read.
Messi’s legal team argues that the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent work stoppage mean the special clause in his contract should be extended through the end of August.
The Argentine wasn’t seen attending Sunday’s COVID-19 testing at Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training facility.
Messi’s absence follows reports suggesting the player’s representatives advised him not to attend testing or the start of Barcelona’s preseason preparations on Monday to strengthen his legal position on the matter.
On Tuesday, the 33-year-old reportedly told Barcelona he wants to leave by triggering the special clause in his terms with the club he made his professional debut for in 2004.
Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are among a select group of teams reportedly linked with interest in Messi.
Sunday’s statement marks the first time La Liga has publicly commented on the issue.
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“It starts with the imagination. If you have something in your head and you’re saying, ‘OK, this is what I’m going to do.’ You have to be creative.”
Heading into his seventh NFL season, his third in Dallas, Cooper starts 2020 fresh off his five-year contract extension with $60 million guaranteed. He’s ready to prove himself as an elite receiver, and, maybe less notably, as the Cowboys’ resident chess guru.
From his large, sunny kitchen outside of Dallas, Cooper, 26, lights up when talking about playing chess, and remembers exactly when the game first captivated him as an elementary school student in northwest Miami.
“My music teacher ran the chess club after school,” Cooper said. “But if we were done with our music lesson that day, he would teach us chess lessons.” The teacher encouraged Cooper to join the after-school chess club, but even from a young age, Cooper already was committed to another passion.
“I probably came after school one time [to chess club], because I was more interested in going to my after-school program, which is where we would play football.”
In the years that followed, graduating from Miami Northwestern Senior High School, three years as a standout receiver for the University of Alabama, declaring for the NFL draft following his junior season in 2015, Cooper hardly touched a pawn on the chessboard. But his initial interest in the game’s intricacies and deception never left his mind.
And in 2015, the desire to play chess was reignited.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper started all 16 games for the Cowboys last season, netting 79 receptions for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns. Ric Tapia via AP Photo
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Awuzie and former Cowboys cornerback Donovan Olumba, now with the Browns, had just established their own chess rivalry when they invited Cooper to join. But with one stipulation: They had to play over a real chessboard, not on an app.
Olumba purchased the board at a discount store, according to a story in The Dallas Morning News. The round pieces in the set give it the appearance of checkers, with the exception of the designations on top: Labels that identify each piece as a pawn, king, queen, rook, bishop or knight.
“Donovan started playing [Cooper], and beat him the first time,” Awuzie said. “After that, he never beat him again, and he just sort of fell off.
“That’s when we really started playing together.”
While admittedly a less experienced chess player, Awuzie, like Cooper, relates his strategies in chess to his mentality on the field.
“As a defensive back, I’m more reactionary,” Awuzie said. “[Cooper] studies, does a bunch of stuff to get better at chess. I never did any of that. So, I see what he does and I try to find the best move to react to it.”
“Now,” he adds with a proud smirk, “I’m catching up to him.” As only a master of deception could, with a blank face, Cooper plays off his chess rival coolly.
“He’s a pretty good opponent. Sometimes he wins.”
Yet last season, Cooper posted to his Instagram story some simple text over a black background that read: “Don’t let Chido [Awuzie] fool ya’ll. He’s 21-5 overall against me in chess. Only time he wins is when I make it easy.”
The Cowboys have quarterback Dak Prescott playing on the franchise tag this season and wide receiver Amari Cooper signed to a five-year, $100 million deal. Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
Cooper’s the knight
Cooper’s insatiable drive is triggered when facing any of his opponents, whether juking and sprinting past them on the field or staring at them, emotionless, while leaning over a chessboard.
Cooper’s endgame is with himself as he strives to become a grandmaster of all pursuits.
Sixty years ago, America’s Team became the NFL’s 13th team. For more on the franchise’s storied history:
