Lionel Messi donates €2.6m to Barcelona children’s cancer hospital

Lionel Messi has donated €2.6m towards the construction of a major hospital complex for children with cancer in Barcelona.

The Inter Miami forward and UNICEF goodwill ambassador is supporting the Sant Joan de Deu Children’s Cancer Centre, which will bring together a range of services for children undergoing cancer treatment, according to French website Foot Mercato.

The centre is expected to treat at least 400 patients each year. Its aim is to provide comprehensive care by concentrating the different elements of paediatric cancer treatment in one location.

The donation is the latest in a long list of charitable projects associated with Messi, whose work away from football has included initiatives in health, education and sport.

Information published by the Messi Foundation lists several projects involving the Argentina international, including support for research into childhood leukaemia and the donation of medical equipment to a hospital in Rosario, his home city in Argentina.

The foundation has also backed a project aimed at tackling child malnutrition in Mozambique.

Messi has continued to use his international profile to support humanitarian causes, particularly those focused on children’s health, extending his charitable work beyond the football pitch.