The Barcelona and Argentina icon will visit Senegal at the end of this month as part of the campaign, which is run by Aspire Academy and has seen notable support from various African national football associations, leading players and major pharmaceutical companies.

Aspire Academy will distribute an initial 400,000 mosquito bed nets across the 10 countries in Africa that the Aspire Football Dreams project currently operates in, with that figure going on to reach one million bed nets per year throughout the continent.

Messi said: "I know my trip to Senegal will be difficult because I will see the suffering that malaria causes, but I know that we have a great chance to use the power of football to help save lives

"Every 90 minutes 180 children die from this horrible disease in Africa, but almost all of these can be avoided by using bed nets.

"Football Combating Malaria is a very special project to me because I know it will help save thousands of young lives, and I'm delighted to be involved and throw my support behind it."

The initiative will also see a medical person placed in every town in which the Aspire Football Dreams scouting project takes place to identify and treat symptoms of malaria in players and their families.

Bed nets have proven hugely effective for the prevention of the spread of malaria, reducing the numbers of incidences by up to 95 percent in some regions.

However, of the 650 million individuals at risk in Africa, only 125 million currently have bed nets.

World football superstar Lionel Messi will visit Senegal this month to show his support in the fight against malaria

The Football Combating Malaria project will support the Programa National de Lutte le Palu (PNLP), an existing anti-malaria programme that is working to eradicate the disease throughout Africa.

Director general of the Aspire Academy Ivan Bravo said: "It is fantastic that Lionel is so passionate about the Football Combating Malaria.

"His visit to Senegal will really help spread the message to children and their families in Africa that malaria can be avoided by using bed nets.

"Aspire Football Dreams will distribute 400,000 bed nets initially and this will grow to one million nets each year across Africa.

"We have 86 coordinators in Senegal alone, who will manage the distribution of the nets, and visit families to ensure they are being used correctly.

"Our approach is to use the power of football to prevent this horrible disease, but we will also be working closely with local medical practitioners to ensure tablets and drips are administered as soon as possible if malaria symptoms appear in the villages we are working in."

Senegal's Minister for Health Awa Marie Coll-Seck said: "Aspire Academy's campaign Football Combating Malaria is an innovative campaign that is to be applauded.

"The engagement off all sectors of society is crucial to put an end to malaria deaths, a disease that is preventable and treatable."

Messi joins a growing list of key figures in the football world, such as FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Ivory Coast pair Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure and LA Galaxy's American forward Landon Donovan, in showing their support in the fight against malaria.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]