BARCELONA – Argentine footballer Lionel Messi gave three Barcelona shirts signed with the name and number of the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, as a thank you for sending 50,000 doses of his coronavirus vaccine to CONMEBOL to be used in the competitions of football teams in America South, including the Copa America this summer.
The gesture of the Barcelona footballer was announced by Gonzalo Belloso, Deputy Secretary General for Football and Director of Development of CONMEBOL.
“Sinovac managers expressed their admiration for Lionel Messi, who willingly sent three shirts for them,” Belloso wrote on his Twitter account.
The arrival of these vaccines “is the best news that the South American football family can receive,” CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez commented on social media.
“It is a big step forward in defeating the COVID-19 pandemic, but by no means does it mean we are lowering our guard,” he added.
With these 50,000 doses, greater safety is guaranteed for players at the Copa América celebration between June 11 and July 10 with seats in Argentina and Colombia, after the competition had to be suspended last year for the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, Messi’s gesture with CONMEBOL improves his relationship with the highest body of South American football, very much reached after the 2019 Copa America of the Argentine footballer, outraged by what he considered the refereeing decisions that harmed his team, decided that they should not be part of “this corruption”.