The greed to rely on foreign players for easy victories has shattered the hard work and genuine efforts of local talents.

A prominent lawyer meanwhile schools the home minister after the latter cites 'ministerial discretion'.

While these players obtained Malaysian citizenship with suspicious ease despite having no genuine ancestral link, stateless children born and raised on Malaysian soil continue to suffer from bureaucratic neglect.

Luis Rubiales has been defiant over the kiss – which has been condemned as unwanted by Jenni Hermoso, her teammates and the Spanish government – arguing it was consensual.

If it can be proven that the kiss was non-consensual, Luis Rubiales could even be tried under a sexual violence law introduced by the ruling Socialists last year.

It's the biggest boost for MLS since English star David Beckham, now a co-owner of Inter Miami, joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

France has implemented laws designed to protect its strict form of secularism, known as 'laicité,' which President Emmanuel Macron has said is under threat from Islamism.

Messi ranked second on Forbes' 2023 list of highest-paid athletes with US$130 million in annual earnings – half on the pitch and half in endorsements.

People had rushed to snap up more than 60,000 tickets for the sell-out clash between Indonesia and World Cup winners Argentina after Messi's face was plastered across advertising for the event.

Sheikh Jassim made a fifth and final bid for the club last week and it is understood that his offer is viewed more favourably by the owners than a rival bid from British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.

Messi was persuaded out of international retirement in 2016, however, and many of his compatriots were hoping he might be cajoled into going on to the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The romance of a Barcelona return and prospect of eye-watering riches in Saudi Arabia fell by the wayside as Messi opted to join MLS, with sun-soaked Miami a city he has holidayed in on previous occasions.