Messi Watched the Venezuela Match from the Box

$7 Million Contract Breach: Lawsuit Filed Against Messi for Not Playing Against Venezuela

Argentine football star Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami in the MLS, is facing a lawsuit from a Miami-based events company. The company accuses him of breaching a $7 million contract by failing to appear at an exhibition match last year.

According to court records, Feed Music Group filed a lawsuit last month in Miami-Dade County Court, alleging fraud and breach of contract against Messi and the Argentine Football Association (AFA).

Neither Messi nor the AFA immediately responded to requests for comment. Messi, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, plays for Inter Miami in the MLS and for the Argentine national team. Fans typically pay hefty sums to see him play.

According to the lawsuit, Fede signed an agreement with the Argentine Football Association last summer for exclusive rights to organize and promote Argentina's friendly matches against Venezuela and Puerto Rico last October, in exchange for ticket sales, broadcasting rights, and sponsorship revenue.

Feede claims that Messi was supposed to play at least 30 minutes in each match, unless he was injured. The lawsuit also states that Messi, 38, watched Argentina's 1-0 victory over Venezuela on October 10 from a private box at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.

The following day, Messi scored two goals in Inter Miami's 4-0 win over Atlanta in Major League Soccer. This match was crucial for Inter Miami, as it gave them home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Then, on October 14, Messi played in Argentina's 6-0 victory over Puerto Rico. 

The match was originally scheduled to be played in Chicago, but poor ticket sales in the city, which saw more than a thousand arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), led organizers to move the game to Florida.

The NFL blamed anti-immigration campaigns when tickets for the smaller stadium in Fort Lauderdale failed to sell out, even after the price was reduced to $25. Fede Sports did not specify the damages it is seeking in the lawsuit, but claims it lost millions of dollars due to Messi's absence from one game and low ticket sales for another.