Barcelona's Lionel Messi donates AR$4,500,000 to UNICEF to help children in need

Lionel Messi has been an UNICEF GoodWill Ambassador since 2010

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi donated a huge amount of 4.5 million Argentine Pesos through his foundation to UNICEF for helping children in need, The Mirror reports. Adding further delight for the children was the four-time World Player of the Year appearing via a video link from Barcelona to express his delight at being part of the programme.

'Un Sol Para Los Chicos' (A Sun for Children) is an annual fundraising event organised in Argentina to carry out projects that benefit the boys and girls of the country and Messi, who has come in for sharp criticism from his homeland for his failure to win a major trophy for Argentina, showed his care in the best possible way.

Messi has been a vocal supporter for children’s rights right from the start of his career. In 2007, he established Fundacion Leo Messi, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children and was appointed GoodWill Ambassador in 2010 to highlight the challenges faced by vulnerable children.

In the programme jointly conducted by the UNICEF and The Thirteen, a television channel in Argentina, Messi's foundation donated $487,316.34.

Messi couldn't make the event as he is preparing with his Barcelona teammates who are getting ready to take on fellow Spanish club Sevilla in the European Super Cup clash tomorrow. The 28-year-old though made his presence felt through the video which was shown on the screens of Luna Park, where the event was being held, before unveiling the donation cheque.

"It's a pleasure to be with you all through this video, collaborating with the people of UNICEF," Messi said, as reported by CBS Sports.

.@vazqueznico trajo una sorpresa de @fundacionmessi, una donación de $4.5 millones para contribuir con el trabajo de UNICEF.#UnSol2015

— UNICEF ARGENTINA (@UNICEFargentina) August 9, 2015

Here’s the video of the event.