The recriminations from Major League Soccer’s one-game suspension of Inter Miami CF superstar Lionel Messi are still unfolding, heightening scrutiny over the Argentine icon’s future career plans.
Messi, along with teammate Jordi Alba, served the suspension Saturday for missing the July 23 MLS All-Star Game in Austin. The suspension was in keeping with a long-standing league policy for players missing the key midseason event without an approved medical reason. Without Messi and Alba, Inter Miami played to a scoreless draw against FC Cincinnati before an announced crowd of 21,044 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas and coach Javier Mascherano, however, both blasted the suspension. They said Messi’s historic contribution to the league, and recent demands amid a tightly clustered schedule, should have been taken into far greater account.
“Obviously, Lionel Messi is Lionel Messi. He is different,” Mas said, who called the punishment “draconian.”
“He has completely changed the economics of this league for every single club, every team, every sponsor, the league, media, etcetera. He’s important. But at the end of the day, Lionel Messi wants to play in competitive matches,” Mas said. “It’s a question of, ‘How do you make the MLS All-Star Game an event that does not kill the management load on their physical ability to perform?’”
To that end, Mascherano cited Messi’s workload, which includes playing every minute in 22 of 23 Inter Miami matches since early April.
“Messi has played an enormous number of matches,” he said. “When it’s about selling tickets or filling stadiums, no one complains. But now that we had a home game, he’s suspended? Would they have done the same if we were playing away? It’s frustrating.”
Player Sentiments
Messi and Alba will be eligible to return for Inter Miami’s Wednesday Leagues Cup match against Liga MX club Atlas. At Saturday’s match, Messi appeared relaxed while watching from a Chase Stadium suite, despite the vitriol from club leaders.
From there, Messi went Sunday night to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, where Coldplay was performing. Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, were shown on the jumbotron during the show—a much-discussed element since the recent scandal involving two Astronomer executives at a Coldplay tour stop in Massachusetts. Band frontman Chris Martin described Messi as “the number-one sports person of all time.”
Long-term, though, Mas said he remains worried the situation with the league could have a detrimental effect on Messi’s future status. A three-year contract signed in 2023 expires after this season, and while there has been optimism about an extension, there is no deal, and other clubs such as Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli have reportedly shown interest in the 38-year-old.
“I’m hopeful it doesn’t have an impact long-term,” Mas said. “Will it have an impact initially in the player’s perception of how the league rules work? Absolutely, no doubt.”
