BARCELONA – Argentine footballer Lionel Messi gave three signed Barcelona jerseys with his name and number to Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech as a thank you for sending 50,000 doses of his coronavirus vaccine to CONMEBOL for use in South American football team matches, including this summer’s Copa América.
The Barcelona football player’s gesture was announced by Gonzalo Belloso, Deputy Secretary General for Football and CONMEBOL Development Director.
“Sinovac executives expressed admiration for Lionel Messi, who was happy to send them three shirts,” Belloso wrote on his Twitter account.
The arrival of these vaccines “is the best news the South American football family can receive,” CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez said on social media.
“It is a huge step forward in beating the COVID-19 pandemic, but it in no way means that we are letting go of our vigilance,” he added.
With these 50,000 doses, more safety is guaranteed for the players for the Copa América celebrations between June 11 and July 10 with venues in Argentina and Colombia after the competition had to be suspended last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, Messi’s gesture with CONMEBOL improves his relationship with South American football’s highest body, very moved after the Argentine footballer’s 2019 Copa América, outraged at what he considered arbitral awards harming his team, ruled that they did not had to do. be part of “this corruption”.