The International Olympic Committee and its President, Thomas Bach, hope to see Lionel Messi in the Paris Olympics 2024. Bach added that he is “crossing his fingers” that the World Cup winner would attend one of the world’s greatest sporting events.
“It would be fantastic if he could be here”, Bach said. “The games are an ambition for many football stars, such as [Kylian] Mbappé.”
“For Lionel Messi”, Bach went on, “it would mean a chance to write history once again”.
“He could be the only player in history to have two gold medals and a World Cup.” Messi won Olympic gold with Argentina at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
Bach discussed the advantages of Argentina being able to rely on the World Cup champion for the event. In addition to what his participation would mean for the Olympics as a whole.
“I don’t want to interfere in the decisions of the coach, but it would be a great opportunity for Messi”, he said, “if he plays, Argentina would have a higher chance of winning the gold medal; it would be fantastic for football and the Olympic Games.”
Javier Mascherano, the u-20 Argentina coach and former Liverpool and Barcelona player, officially revealed in September that he would want to have both Lionel Messi and ngel Di Mara on his squad for the next Olympics in Paris.
The u-23 team must first compete in a pre-Olympic competition in order to qualify for the Games. It will take held in Venezuela between January 20 and February 11. The 10 CONMEBOL teams will compete for two spots that will provide them access to the Olympics.
Argentina is in Group B, which also includes Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru. Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador make up Group A. Each group’s top two teams will proceed to the following round. All teams will compete in a mini-league, with the top two teams securing their place in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
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