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MIAMI, USA: Lionel Messi, who has sat out Inter Miami’s last three games, will travel to Jamaica for Thursday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup match with Kingston side Cavalier, coach Javier Mascherano said on Wednesday.
Messi missed Inter’s 4-1 win at the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer on Mar. 2 and then the 2-0 midweek home win over Cavalier in the first leg of the last-16 tie against the Jamaicans.
The Argentine then sat unused on the bench for Sunday’s 1-0 win over Charlotte in MLS, with Mascherano saying the caution over using the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was based on managing his workload and not an injury.
Speaking to the media before the team flew out to the Caribbean Island nation, Mascherano, a former team-mate of Messi’s at Barcelona, said the forward would be making the trip.
“Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica. Tomorrow (Thursday) we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later,” he said.
“Today he trained with the team, and the sensations were good. We’re happy he’ll travel with us to Jamaica,” he added.
The game is expected to attract a sell-out crowd to the 35,000 capacity National Stadium in Kingston.
While Messi has faced Jamaica’s national team for Argentina, he has never played in the nation before.
Cavalier head coach and sporting director Rudolph Speid believes his team are capable of turning around the tie against a team that will include former Barca players Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez.
“It is about normalizing the Inter Miami team so that our players are comfortable playing against players with such high esteem,” Speid explained.
“Jordi Alba is 35 years old but he runs up and down like he thinks he is 25. Sergio Busquets is a brilliant player — it is very difficult to take the ball off him when he has it under control. And Lionel Messi, I don’t even have to say anything,” he told the Jamaican Gleaner.

LONDON: Top British Muslim boxers will be honored at an awards event on March 22 in Birmingham, which organizers describe as a celebration of fighters’ careers and the values of fairness within the sport.

The Muslim Boxing Awards 2025 will take place at the city’s Grand Botanical Suite and be presented by Amir Khan, a former Olympian and two-time world champion, and Johnny Nelson, a former world cruiserweight champion.

This year’s awards ceremony follows the inaugural event in April last year. It is once again organized by Legal Blows, a pro bono legal organization that helps boxers deal with the complexities of business contracts, which said the evening will unite champions, rising stars and boxing legends for a memorable celebration.

“The event will honor the dedication, excellence and values that make Muslim athletes true role models, both inside and outside the ring,” it added.

It will also include a fundraiser in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and a four-course Ramadan iftar.

Legal Blows said the lineup it has assembled for the awards features some of Britain’s top boxers and other leading lights in the sport, including: Shabaz Masoud, holder of the IBO super-bantamweight title; Hamza Uddin, a former Team GB fighter and eight-time national champion; Haseebah Abdullah, England’s first hijab-wearing boxing coach; and Mehek Khalil, an amateur boxer and actress.

The Muslim Boxing Awards is the brainchild of solicitor Adil Hussain, the founder of Legal Blows, in collaboration with renowned boxing figures, including Khan and other top-tier talent.

“Many athletes are unaware that they have the ability to negotiate contracts to obtain more favorable terms,” Hussain said of his work with boxers.

“My goal is to empower them with the tools to protect their interests and maximize their careers.”