Joan Laporta sent Lionel Messi a public message to congratulate him on receiving the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports for 2026. FC Barcelona also issued an official statement marking the award.
Laporta's message
The FC Barcelona president wrote: "Leo, I congratulate you on receiving the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports for 2026, a well-deserved recognition of your footballing and personal achievements. With your talent, you helped make FC Barcelona, the club of your life, greater, yesterday, today and always."
Laporta also wrote: "Messi and Barcelona, Barcelona and Messi, a shared success story that all Barcelona fans are proud of and to which we wish continued good fortune."
GOAL said Laporta wrote in Catalan on his account on the "X" platform.
Club statement
GOAL said Laporta's message came hours after the club's official statement, also in Catalan, released through its channels.
FC Barcelona said: "This is a well-deserved recognition of your exceptional talent, which left an indelible mark on and off the pitch, and made you a global symbol of football thanks to your excellence, your commitment to the sport and your solidarity."
The club added: "A career full of successes, in which FC Barcelona was an essential part of your life and history. An unbreakable relationship that forms part of the club's legacy, and it will remain a source of pride for us that you are still a part of it."
Laporta on the relationship
Speaking to the channel "Teledeporte", Laporta said: "La Masia, our approach to understanding football, and the trust that Barcelona placed in Messi, were decisive factors in his career. A relationship formed between a unique player and a club with a footballing identity that perfectly matched his talent. It was an ideal symbiosis, and it is something truly wonderful when we recall his beginnings."
GOAL said Messi became the first footballer to win the award on his own.
GOAL said tension was still lingering between Laporta and Messi since the Argentine's exit in the summer of 2021.