UN Women, an entity of the United Nations, has highlighted the yearly earnings of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi as an example in their campaign to reduce the wage gap between men and women in sport.
The intergoverment organisation utilised their Facebook page to highlight the US$84 million-a-year income from his salary, bonuses, commercial deals and other payments being nearly double of the combined annual wage ($42.6m) of the 1,693 women footballers in the top seven leagues.
"One male soccer player makes almost double the combined salaries of all players in the top seven women's soccer leagues," the UN post read.