OMM Newsroom
Barcelona president Joan Laporta congratulated Inter Miami’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi on winning the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. In a social media post, Laporta said Messi’s journey as a footballer and as a person made him worthy of the award.
“Leo, congratulations on receiving the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. It is a fitting recognition of your journey in football and in life. Thanks to your talent, you have made Barcelona, the club of your life, even greater in the past, the present and the future. Messi and Barcelona, Barcelona and Messi — it is a shared success story that we are all proud of and want to last forever,” Laporta wrote.
Messi received the award at a ceremony on October 23 at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo. He became the first footballer in history to receive it individually.
The jury cited Messi’s sporting career and talent, as well as his charitable work aimed at expanding access to education and medical care for children from low-income families.
