'The god of soccer' Lionel Messi (39, Inter Miami) was embroiled in a massive lawsuit last year over a no-show at a friendly match.
Global sports network ESPN reported on the 16th (Korea time) that Miami-based event promoter Bid Music Group filed a lawsuit in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Messi and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) alleging fraud and breach of contract.
According to the complaint, Bid Music Group signed a $7 million (about 10.3 billion won) contract with the AFA last summer. The contract included exclusive rights to organize and promote the friendlies against Venezuela and Puerto Rico held in Florida last October.
Bid argued, "The contract stated that Messi had to play at least 30 minutes in each match unless there was a special reason such as injury."
Fans paid much higher ticket prices than usual to see Messi. For Bid, Messi's participation was a core issue directly tied to revenue.
But Messi did not play in the Venezuela match on Oct. 11 last year at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. He simply watched his teammates' 1-0 victory from a skybox.
What enraged Bid was Messi's next-day actions. After recording a 'no-show' in the national team match, Messi played the very next day for his club Inter Miami.
Messi scored two goals against Atlanta, leading to a 4-0 victory. At the time Inter Miami was in a crucial situation with home-field advantage in the playoffs at stake, and ultimately Messi was deemed to have directly violated the contract with Bid.
Messi did play in the subsequent Puerto Rico match. He played the full match, and Argentina achieved a 6-0 rout. However, ticket sales were poor, resulting in huge losses.
The Argentina versus Puerto Rico match was originally scheduled to be held in Chicago. But due to poor ticket sales and the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdowns in the area, the venue was moved to Florida.
The AFA lowered the price to $25 (about 36,000 won) due to weak ticket sales. Despite the AFA's efforts, seats at the stadium did not sell out.
Bid Music Group says it suffered millions of dollars in losses due to Messi's absence from the first match and poor ticket sales for the second, and plans to claim a specific amount in damages.
Meanwhile, Messi and the AFA have not yet commented on the lawsuit.
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