He may be the world’s best soccer player four years running… But Lionel Messi one of the big-hearted players in the sport.
The 25-year-old Argentine soccer star recently donated nearly $1 million pesos (about $202,000 U.S.) to a sports facility used by children from low-income families in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, according to his foundation.
The money donated by the FC Barcelona striker will be used to improve the Deliot sports complex in Rosario, located about 186 miles from Buenos Aires, allowing children to “have a special place for sports, education, training and culture,” said officials from the Leo Messi Foundation.
The foundation, run by the soccer player and his family, seeks to improve “the well-being of young people and the community.”
But this isn’t the first time Messi, who just won a fourth consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or, has provided funds for community projects in his hometown.
The Leo Messi Foundation, the FC Barcelona Foundation and Organizacion Social Team recently renovated another sports facility in Rosario used by about 10,000 young people.
Messi was born in a lower-middle-class section of Rosario and began his soccer career with a neighborhood team.
