Sport LaLiga fine with or without Barca's Messi as Tebas warns of COVID-19 financial crisis

LaLiga president Javier Tebas played down the impact of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi possibly leaving Spain, while warning of a financial crisis should the coronavirus pandemic force football to stop again.

© AFP Barcelona's Lionel Messi

Messi handed in a transfer request following a tumultuous 2019-20 season, which saw Barca humiliated 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals and dethroned by Real Madrid in LaLiga, before the six-time Ballon d'Or winner opted to remain at Camp Nou this term.

Schumacher, Rosberg: Fathers and sons in Formula 1

Lionel Messi has apologized to the fans of FC Barcelona for his behavior in the summer and the openly expressed change request. "I stand by my mistakes when I've made them," Messi said in an interview with Sport. It was all about "making Barcelona better". © Provided by SPOX Addressed words of apology to the fans of FC Barcelona: Superstar Lionel Messi.

The global death toll from the coronavirus infection has topped 934,000, while almost 29.5 million cases have been reported and more than 20 million who contracted the disease have recovered, according to Baltimore, Maryland' s Johns Hopkins University

Students who volunteer on COVID - 19 response efforts will be rewarded through bursaries of up to ,000 toward their education in the fall. Small businesses that remain open during the crisis will also be eligible for bill deferral. Businesses that have been forced to close can receive bill credits for

The 33-year-old – who has a €700million release clause – was heavily linked to Premier League giants Manchester City, while Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Inter also emerged as possible destinations.

Asked about Messi, Tebas told reporters: "As I always said, I will always want to see Messi in LaLiga. If he stays at Barcelona, much better for Barcelona.

"The union between Barcelona FC and Messi is so good for Barca, for Messi and for LaLiga. I'm not sure whether departing from Barcelona would have been a good idea for Messi.

"Maybe yes as a player, but not for Messi as a football industry, because Messi is a machine in creating industry around him. Not sure whether it would have worked for him.

Lionel Messi's half-time tunnel row with referee is caught on camera

Messi argued with referee Carlos del Cerro Grande on the field and, as tunnel cam TV footage from Movistar has revealed, didn't let the debate rest during half-time. 1/4 SLIDES © Provided by Daily Mail Lionel Messi remonstrated with referee Carlos del Cerro Grande at half-time following Clement Lenglet's red card in Thursday night's Barcelona vs Celta Vigo clash 2/4 SLIDES © Provided by Daily Mail Messi, Gerard Pique and manager Ronald Koeman crowded around the official in the tunnel to demand an explanation for the sending off 3/4 SLIDES ©&

As Covid - 19 spreads, China’ s economic recovery will be challenged as demand from other countries The International Air Transport Association warns that Covid - 19 could cost global air carriers A4: Fears of a broader outbreak and its economic impact spread to financial markets last month, and

With the COVID - 19 crisis , fundamental changes in consumer behavior, supply chains, and routes to market are knocking companies off balance. Responding to the pandemic has underscored the need for leaders to accelerate the adoption of agile ways of working and value chain transformation to help

"Messi will finally stay but I must say that we had already sold LaLiga TV rights worldwide for the next four years and nobody called us asking to cancel that agreement in case Messi would leave. No one."

The COVID-19 crisis forced the 2019-20 LaLiga season to be suspended in March before the league resumed behind closed doors in June, with Madrid winning the title.

The 2020-21 LaLiga campaign has kicked off but coronavirus cases are rising across Spain and Europe.

"We are reading in the newspapers that the economical activity cannot be stopped again, there must be a balance between the health and the financial aspect," said Tebas.

"If not, we could move from a health pandemic into a financial pandemic, which would be really dangerous."