Messi's $84m income highlighted by United Nations in attack on women footballers' pay

The yearly earnings of the Argentine forward have been used to emphasise the pay gap between sexes

UN Women, an entity of the United Nations, has highlighted the yearly earnings of Barca superstar Lionel Messi as an example in their campaign to reduce the wage gap between men and women in sport.

The intergovernmental 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.