The legendary Lionel Messi has long established himself as one of the most influential sports figures in world football. The broadcast of his matches on the betting site BC Game regularly attracts a multi-million dollar audience, where every user wants to place a profitable bet on the athlete's performance. But it's not just successes at championships that users are interested in. At a recent auction, a napkin related to Messi's career was sold for almost $1,000,000, which speaks of the athlete's more global influence on the world community. Let's understand the reason for this artefact's such a high value.
The Backstory of Success
Even a few years before his debut in the top football league for Inter Miami, Messi was an ordinary teenage footballer with great promise. The main goal of the budding athlete then was to get into the football club Barcelona, which at the time was recognised as one of the strongest on the international stage. The turning point for the history of world football occurred in December 2000, when young Lionel Messi came to a meeting with the managers of the club to discuss terms. The discussion took place in the most unconventional environment, so the details of the contract were quickly written right on a napkin, as it was necessary to agree to them extremely quickly. It was subsequently sold at auction for $964,450, even considering that Messi's own signature is not on it.
That decision of 13-year-old Messi, taken together with the boy's father forever changed the course of the history of world football. Thanks to a rapid start in Barcelona, the young talent was able to quickly realise his potential and give football fans a lot of spectacular matches in all world leagues. As for the terms of the contract itself, the text on the napkin read: "In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000, in the presence of Messrs Minghella and Horacio, Carles Rexach, sporting director of FC Barcelona hereby agrees, under his own responsibility and independently of any other opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi on condition that we adhere to the agreed amounts." At the bottom of the napkin were the signatures of Rexach, Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli and adviser Josep Minghella. The text was notarised, so this case in the history of world football can truly be called unprecedented - for the first time, an ordinary napkin served as the beginning of a great and amazing success story, each participant of which got the maximum benefit from the subsequent partnership. After the signing, Horacio Gaggioli took such a valuable legal document and kept it in his home bank safe for more than 20 years.
The Course of the Auction
Information about the sale of the napkin was also posted on the site for betting BC Game Bangladesh, whose users closely follow the fate of Lionel Messi. Before the start of the auction, ownership of the artefact was requested, which was the reason for legal action, but the situation was quickly resolved before the auction began.
The special value in the fact of the sale is not so much the napkin itself, but its historical significance. For the world of big football it became a symbol of great opportunities and marked a new era in which the young Lionel Messi set his own rules of the game. The auction itself was also quite unusual. Even 30 minutes before the end of the auction, the lot was estimated at no more than $275,000. At the very last minute, his price rose sharply to $ 964,450, after which the deal was finalised. Initially, according to the preliminary estimate of the auction organisers, the cost of the napkin should not have exceeded a possible $630,000. But its connection with one of the greatest football stars gave the lot an additional value.
The auction showed how important is the influence of Lionel Messi on the world of football and the sports industry as a whole. Winning many trophies and awards, as well as repeated recognition of him as one of the greatest football legends forever changed the world and became a symbol of how any decision made can change the course of events and affect the fate of an entire generation.