Argentinean football star Messi misses Barcelona’s preseason training session

Barcelona football team announced Tuesday that Lionel Messi missed the team's second training session in a row and in doing so edged closer to a potential fine for breach of contract.

New coach Ronald Koeman led Barcelona's training on Tuesday at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barca's training centre, with the same 19 players that had trained on Monday night but the Argentinean star failed to show up, the club said in a statement.

Messi missed obligatory Covid-19 testing on Sunday, which every player needed to pass before being allowed to train. A third absence from training could see him accused of breach of contract by Barca, dpa cited Spanish media reports.

Should that be the case, according to Spanish employment law, Barcelona could fine the player 25 per cent of his monthly salary. Messi told the club last Tuesday that he wanted to leave, but his bid to do so was dealt a severe blow on Sunday, when the Spanish league sided with the club in his contractual dispute.