BYJU’S puts Lionel Messi’s contract on hold

BYJU’S has put its three-year global brand ambassadorship agreement with Argentine footballer Lionel Messi on hold, as reported by The Economic Times on Monday.

The development comes just over a year after the company signed the multi-million-dollar deal with the Inter Miami forward.

The Bengaluru-headquartered Indian edtech firm had on-boarded Messi as a global ambassador for its “Education for All” initiative in November 2022. The announcement was met a wave of criticism by netizens at the time, the backlash stemming from the fact that the company had announced a lay-off of nearly 2,500 of its employees not too long ago.

BYJU’S has also received negative spotlight in recent years over its reportedly abusive workplace culture and predatory sales tactics.

Also read: The BYJU’S sponsorship of the Qatar World Cup

Speaking on the matter of putting the Messi deal on hold, an anonymous BYJU’S executive said: 

“Byju’s paid Messi for the first year; it is yet to be decided whether the deal will be terminated before full term, or whether Byju’s plans to revive the contract in due course. This is on account of the liquidity crisis and other matters of serious concern within the company.”