Barcelona To Pay €3000 Fine Over Messi’s Goal Celebration To Maradona

Barcelona will cough out €3,000 (£2,700) fine after Lionel Messi paid tribute to Diego Maradona by celebrating in a Newell’s Old Boys shirt in Sunday’s Laliga game against Osasuna.

Messi celebrated his goal against Osasuna by taking off Barcelona’s blue-and-burgundy strip to reveal the red-and-black of Newell’s.

Maradona, who died last week at the age of 60, played for Newell’s at the end of his glittering career and Messi wore the same shirt at the start of his, making it a fitting tribute.

But the touching tribute was against the rules of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, who are now poised to fine the club for Messi’s celebration.

After the game, Messi posted a photo of his tribute alongside an older image of Maradona in the same shirt, adding the message “Farewell, Diego” in Spanish.

“It was a great moment,”said Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman.

“First, for the goal that Leo scored and then for the gesture he had for the death of Diego Maradona. He had surely been thinking of what he would do. For me, it was a great moment in every way.”

read also: Messi dedicates goal to Maradona

Messi played for Newell’s before he joined Barcelona at age 13. Maradona played five matches for Newell’s near the end of his career.