International Soccer Star’s Slip-Up

In the world of sports, figures like Lionel Messi stand out for their prowess in the field. His fast paced irrefutable skill has led him to become one of the most extolled characters on the field and his name echoes across the lips of his worldwide aficionados.

Over the past, Messi has faced a lot of publicity. I read a story online that depicts the footballer of late, as the bull’s eye of criticism from the Human Rights Foundation. The source of criticism revolves around the affiliation of the Barcelona forward with Gabon’s dictator leadership in a recent trip to Gabon, which was to promote the 2017 African CUP of Nations.

Ali Bongo Ondima, the said president of Gabon, drove the famed footballer around Libreville, the capital. This was not OK’d by the human rights organization, known for publicly posting condemnatory videos on YouTube. that has not been in support of Gabon’s dictatorship that has failed short of sojourning the ritual slaying of children. Gabon’s leaders have been said to be ritually butchering young children for prosperity during the election period. Ali Bongo succeeded his father as the countries president in 2009 after fraud allegations. His father had been in leadership for a lengthy 42 year period.

The Human Rights Foundation president, Thor Halvorssen, was completely not in support of Lionel Messi’s choice of actions saying, “In providing PR services to Gabon’s Bongo family, Lionel Messi has seriously undermined the credibility of his charitable foundation”. Halvorssen claims that the football stars decision to fall in with the trip shows he ratifies a kleptocratic government that refuses to bring an end to ritual child murders. A report by the United States Department of States shows substantiation of butchering of children and severing of limbs or genitals. It also shows no prosecutions or investigations were made to find the culprits behind the heinous act.