THE SPORT SCAN – The winner of eight Golden Balls and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi received the Presidential Medal of Freedom this Saturday, but the football star did not attend the ceremony to receive it from the American president Joe Biden his distinction.
And one more reward in Lionel Messi’s well-filled trophy cabinet. This is surprising to say the least, since the eight-time Golden Ball received the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” by decision of American President Joe Biden. This is the highest American distinction for the Inter Miami player who did not attend the ceremony.
“Leo Messi is a Unicef ambassador”
The player who joined Inter Miami in 2023 from PSG is not rewarded for a sporting reason. Indeed, the White House cited the work “philanthropic” of the Argentinian among children to justify this reward. “He supports health and education programs for children around the world through the Leo Messi Foundation and is a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador”greeted the American president in a press release.
Alongside the football star, all the other winners presented themselves, including chef José Andrés, U2 singer Bono, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actor Michael J. Fox, engineer software Tim Gill, primatologist Jane Goodall, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, scientist Bill Nye, philanthropist George Soros, director George Stevens Jr, actor Denzel Washington and fashion editor Anna Wintour.
”
data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js”
>
