In Messi vs. MLS, pettiness gets in the way of sensibility

Many things can be true about the recent conflict between MLS and Lionel Messi. For starters, the league had every right to suspend the Argentine great for one game after he skipped the MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas, last week. Not because the punishment necessarily fit the crime, but because that rule, “draconian” as it may be, has been in place since 2018.

On Friday, Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas used that word to desribe the policy, which was instituted in an effort to ensure the league’s most marketable and recognizable players showed up to its midsummer showcase. It doesn’t get more marketable and recognizable than Messi. Yet there was Mas in an unplanned press conference defending his banned players, saying that Messi and Jordi Alba, who also dismissed his invitation to Austin, were “extremely upset” with having to miss Saturday’s Eastern Conference clash with first-place FC Cincinnati (which ended 0-0 at Miami’s Chase Stadium). He accurately described the run of games they’d been on – nine in 35 days, of which Messi played every minute – hours after Miami manager Javier Mascherano suggested playing the game on a weekend and not sandwiched mid-week between league games as a way to build in more rest.

Messi isn’t the first MLS star to skip the All-Star Game. Former LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, then the league’s biggest international star, decided that playing in it was beneath him. “I come from a different world, I come from the real world,” he said at the time.

Translation: a league all-star game that is played midseason is a gimmicky event and a foreign concept within the traditional structures of the global game. MLS commissioner Don Garber defended the decision to suspend Ibrahimović, saying then that the All-Star Game was “the most important special event that the league has.”

“We have a mechanism in place that rewards those players that do come, and penalizes those players and clubs who make the decision not to come,” Garber said in 2018. “It’s the right procedure.”

It’s not though. The All-Star Game is a big event for MLS, but if it’s considered bigger than the MLS Cup final, then the league’s priorities are backwards. The All-Star Game is a gathering of American soccer personalities and decision-makers. It’s a formidable networking opportunity and a celebration of the country’s first division.

For journalists, influencers and club dignitaries, the days prior to the exhibition are more important than the actual premier event. Meanwhile, for many MLS players, an All-Star Game invitation is the type of recognition that can highlight a season, or even a career. The financial bonus that a player receives is a nice reward, as well.

Messi, on the other hand, is a bit of an exception, considering his stature and the grueling run he and Miami have been on that included participation in the Club World Cup. It was naive for the league to think that arguably the sport’s greatest player ever, would willingly accept an invitation to a game that honors the best players in MLS. But Miami shouldn’t have assumed it’d be above the law and should’ve attempted to hammer out a workaround (Mas insisted it was a club decision, whether true or not). Even so, to punish Messi for deciding to prioritize games that actually matter may not be draconian, but it is petty.

It’s a bad look for MLS and for all those involved to have to publicly defend their positions regarding a non-competitive game. It should have never gotten to this. When Messi missed last year’s All-Star Game due to a serious ankle injury he suffered in the 2024 Copa América final in Miami, MLS could have reevaluated his participation in the event moving forward.

Instead, MLS kept the rule in place, daring players and clubs to snub the All-Star Game at their own peril. Frankly, Messi is bigger than MLS, whether Garber wants to accept that or not. So, in order to maintain its position as the higher power in this situation, MLS sought to salvage its credibility. Was it worth it, especially considering Messi hasn’t renewed his expiring contract just yet (but is still expected to do so)?

Garber told The Athletic on Friday that following through with the ban was “a very, very difficult decision,” and then acknowledged Messi’s role in promoting a league that needs as much positive publicity as it can get. “Nobody has done more for Major League Soccer than Lionel Messi,” he said.

Garber’s remorseful response is a clear indication that the league fumbled an opportunity to amend its rule. Another issue was that no revelation about Messi’s status was made until the day of the game, thus overshadowing the build-up to the event and the game itself. In all senses, it was a total backfire.

“We should have known earlier,” Garber said. “We should have addressed it earlier. No doubt about that.”

The desire to have Messi promote MLS at every turn is understandable. Yet Messi doesn’t have to performatively appear at an All-Star Game to do so. He does that every time he suits up for Miami. He promotes MLS when scoring a historic free-kick winner against Porto at the Club World Cup. He promotes MLS when he scores two goals in six out of seven matches, including an unprecedented five straight, keeping the global highlight loop running. When Messi’s team of social media admins posts a link to subscribe to MLS Season Pass on Messi’s Instagram account, his 506 million followers hear about MLS, too. And with the MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup set to begin Tuesday — the inter-league competition that runs until Aug. 31 – Messi will be expected to fly the MLS flag once again.

Leagues Cup hasn’t fully caught on in Mexico or in the U.S. as tournament organizers may have wanted. But when Messi scored a late winner in his debut for the club in the competition and inspired Miami to the inaugural title in 2023, they got their major moments, and they’ll surely be counting on more Messi magic over the course of the next month. This All-Star dust up, though, may lead Miami to reconsider his full-throttle participation. After all, MLS Cup is Miami’s chief priority in 2025, not Leagues Cup.

Of course, MLS and Messi’s global fanbase would love to hear from him more often. He has only done one press conference since coming to MLS (it was before the 2023 Leagues Cup final) and calls for more access to Messi have intensified among Miami’s local media.

“I came here to play and to continue to enjoy football, which is what I have loved for my entire life,” Messi said in 2023 when asked if mirroring David Beckham and Pelé’s influence on American soccer was important to him. “I chose to be here because of that and above all else.”

In that sense, MLS is getting exactly what it should have expected and more. There was nothing for Messi to gain by participating in the All-Star Game, which put player welfare back in the spotlight as talks about the congested calendar continue to intensify. MLS isn’t even convinced about the game’s ever-changing format. In 2022, while promoting the nascent Leagues Cup, Garber said, “Now that we have our Leagues Cup, I’m not sure we need the All-Star Game to be another aspect of our (MLS–Liga MX) showcase.”

MLS is not the only league to combat stars missing All-Star showcases, either. Last season, 23 NFL players opted out of the Pro Bowl, which further cemented the event as a meaningless exhibition that the league’s top players have no interest in indulging. Did MLS truly envision that Messi would show up energized and ready to take on Liga MX’s best? Was forcing a potential photo-op with CF Monterrey’s Sergio Ramos – who notably did travel to Austin day-of and dutifully captained Liga MX’s side – that valuable?

Regardless, the entire situation was poorly managed by all. Perhaps it will soon be forgotten, unless Miami’s draw with Cincinnati, for which Messi watched from the stands in street clothes alongside new signing and good friend Rodrigo De Paul, decides the 2025 Supporters’ Shield. But how MLS handles its remaining window with Messi, however long that may be, is something that the league cannot afford to botch.

(Top photo: Ira L. Black/Getty Images)