Lionel Messi joins Beitar Jerusalem fan club

Argentine Football star Lionel Messi became a member of the fan club of the Israeli Football team Beitar Jerusalem.

Beitar’s team owner, businessman Moshe Hogeg, presented Messi with a membership card at an event in Barcelona in which he presented Finney, the “world’s first ultra-secure blockchain smartphone.”

Messi, who plays professionally for the Spanish team Barcelona, has won the FIFA Ballon D’Or prize for the best Football player in the world five times and often is considered one of the greatest players of all time.

He had a previous relationship with Hogeg, who in December 2017 hired Messi as brand ambassador of his company Sirin Labs.

Hogeg bought the Football club in August for £5.6m ($7.2 million) from Eli Tabib, who had been the owner since 2013. He published on Twitter Tuesday a video showing Messi receiving his fan club membership card. One reply suggested that his card would be found around back in a dumpster after the event.

Messi and Argentina’s national Football team were scheduled to play against Israel in Jerusalem this year, but the game was cancelled due threats by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Listen to this week’s episode of The Jewish Views podcast! SPECIAL EDITION – Chanukah in the Square!