Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s sensational forward, was supposed to be in Egypt sometime this month on a medical tourism campaign, but has agreed to the postponement of his visit till February next year.
The postponement of his visit, came on the heels of the bombing of a church in Cairo, Egypt last Sunday.
Messi, whose visit was aimed at the promotion of Egypt’s Tour n’ Cure Hepatitis C. medical tourism campaign will now wait till February next year before making his visit, according to the website of Prime Pharma, the organizers of the visit.
Tamer Wagih, the CEO of Prime Pharma, who are the organizers of the Tour n’ Cure mentioned that Messi, five time winner of the Ballon D’Or, sent his condolences to the bereaved families in the church attack on Sunday, as he also noted that he understands their reason for postponing his visit, as necessary security measures.
The church bombing in Egypt, which occurred at the St. Peter’s and Paul Church, Cairo, left no less than 25 persons dead, and possibly more than 40 others injured.
Messi’s visit to Egypt will now hold after the Spanish league season comes to an end, around February, 2017 according to the agreement between him and Prime Pharma.
Some of Barcelona’s stars have also been a part of the fight against Hepatitis C. One notable player is Brazilian defender, Daniel Alves, who sometime in July this year, joined up in the Egyptian Tour n’ Cure Campaign targeted at fighting Hepatitis C, while also boosting tourism in Egypt.
The fight against the disease has been a very dogged one, with Egypt gaining global recognition as one of the leading nations in the fight. In 2015, the World Health Organization, (WHO) celebrated the World Hepatitis C. Day in the country’s capital Cairo.