{"id":37690,"date":"2025-07-26T01:52:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37690\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T01:52:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:52:03","slug":"inter-miami-owner-on-messis-suspension-mls-rule-is-draconian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37690\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter Miami owner on Messi\u2019s suspension: MLS rule is \u2018draconian\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas vigorously defended stars Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for missing Wednesday\u2019s MLS All-Star Game<\/a> and said the league rule requiring a suspension for missing the exhibition needs to be changed and is \u201cdraconian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas called a press conference hours after the league announced it was upholding its rules and that Messi and Alba would miss<\/a> Saturday\u2019s critical Eastern Conference showdown against first-place FC Cincinnati after neither player attended nor played against Liga MX\u2019s stars in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n

Mas said Messi and Alba were informed earlier in the day about the decision and that their reaction was \u201cas expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it was not a positive reaction,\u201d Mas said. \u201cThey want to compete. They want to play games. That\u2019s what they\u2019re here for: to play and win. They understand the magnitude of tomorrow\u2019s night\u2019s game. So the reaction was exactly as expected out of two competitive players who don\u2019t understand the decision. Who don\u2019t understand why not attending an exhibition match leads directly to a suspension. The rule is what it is, but they don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas said he was \u201chopeful\u201d the decision \u201cdoesn\u2019t have an impact long-term\u201d with Messi, who is negotiating an extension to his current deal with Inter Miami. His contract ends at the conclusion of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very upset, extremely upset today, as expected,\u201d Mas said. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful it doesn\u2019t have an impact long-term. Will it have an impact initially, in the players\u2019 perception of how the league rules work? Absolutely no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas said it was a club decision to let the players skip the All-Star Game and rest in the midst of a heavy stretch of games. He also said that had Alba left the last league game in the first half instead of the second due to a slight injury, the current rule about missing the All-Star Game would not have applied.<\/p>\n

\"Inter<\/p>\n

Inter Miami\u2019s Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba are forced to sit out Saturday night vs. FC Cincinnati (Photo by Jeff Dean\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the course of this year, we have to date played, already, 33 games,\u201d Mas said. \u201cI consider each and every game that Inter Miami plays an All-Star Game for obvious reasons. And I wanted today to express our full support, both to Lionel and to Jordi, as a decision for them to sit this week was a decision made by the club. And I think that that\u2019s an important point. They were coming off a run of nine games in 35 days. Hard games. The last two games previous to this Wednesday were games on the road on Wednesday at Cincinnati, on Saturday in New York. We\u2019re facing a game tomorrow, and we\u2019re facing a course of 10 games over the next 34 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a rule in the MLS, which, if they miss the All-Star Game, they\u2019re suspended for one game. I believe it\u2019s a bad rule, but it\u2019s a rule nonetheless. And it\u2019s a bad rule because I think it puts the players in an untenable position to have to choose between participating in an All-Star festivity, which is an exhibition match, or choosing a regular-season game that I think matters, and I admire both Lionel and Jordi for always thinking of club first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas said the players and club had discussed Messi and Alba potentially traveling to Austin but not participating in the game, but then ultimately \u201cboth of them decided against that for obvious reasons, because it would take away from their preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe communication on all ends probably wasn\u2019t handled ideally,\u201d Mas said, on letting the league know that the two star players would not fly to Austin or take part in the game. \u201cIt was all a very short time frame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas also noted that the rule hurts \u201cthe club, the fans, sponsors\u201d and league media partner Apple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI allude to what the commissioner said in his statement<\/a>, that the rule needs to be looked at,\u201d Mas said. \u201cI expressed our disagreement with the decision that the league made, and I had conversations with the commissioner this morning and through late last night, but notwithstanding that the decision is what it is and stands with MLS. But I want to assure everyone that you know, Lionel and Jordi have acted in a way commensurate with what the club would want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas also advocated for MLS to find a way to play the All-Star Game in a way that doesn\u2019t \u201cforce\u201d players to make decisions between attendance and fitness for regular-season games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand schedule congestion, but we have to find a way where the All-Star Game gives players some time before and\/or after,\u201d Mas said. \u201cThere are, I believe, six games this evening in Major League Soccer. That is less than 48 hours since playing in an All-Star game. That\u2019s untenable and not right and not fair to the players and the clubs that sent players to the All-Star Game. So the ideal situation would be that, either before or after the All-Star Game, as Javier Mascherano said this morning, the players have some days off so that they can enjoy their time at an All-Star Game. Because ultimately, it\u2019s an exhibition, but it should be something enjoyable among players in Major League Soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to Messi\u2019s long-term impact in the league, Mas said the team is going to \u201ctake advantage\u201d of the current transfer window \u201cto strengthen our roster.\u201d He said the aim is to win the Concacaf Champions League because that would qualify the team for the 2029 Club World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no greater event in world soccer than a club making that tournament,\u201d Mas said. \u201cI think that the focus of our league should have multiple teams, as they want to spend, to be able to compete and win the Champions League. And I remind that only one MLS team has won a Champions League, which is Seattle. And I\u2019m hopeful that that can change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about Messi\u2019s presence \u2014\u00a0or lack thereof\u00a0\u2014\u00a0impacting league sponsors who pay for the All-Star Game, Mas reiterated that Messi has changed the reach of MLS globally, including for league sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u201cLionel Messi, he is different. He has completely changed the economics of this league, for every single club, every team, every sponsor, the league, media, et cetera,\u201d Mas said. \u201cHe\u2019s important. But at the end of the day, Lionel Messi wants to play in competitive matches. \u2026 [The All-Star Game is] with league corporate sponsors. League corporate sponsors are already taking advantage of Lionel Messi\u2019s presence in the league, because they are league sponsors. So it\u2019s 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. You can still have players attend, and it\u2019s a scheduling issue with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no doubt Lionel not being here in this game tomorrow is going to have an impact on viewership, ticketing, etc, etc. So it has a negative impact. Not to mention the fact of, if it happened to be that tomorrow night\u2019s game would have been away, Lionel Messi has created, for the first time in the league history, $10 million gates where he goes. Clubs change stadiums so Lionel Messi can perform and play, and Inter Miami can play. And that\u2019s an amazing asset and an amazing thing for the league. I\u2019m just hopeful that in the future we can manage the All-Star Game scheduling with the obvious benefits that Lionel has brought to our league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas also reiterated that Messi\u2019s reach continues to put MLS on a bigger platform than ever before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that there\u2019s a before and after Lionel Messi in this league,\u201d Mas said. \u201cThe things that we\u2019re seeing of a global nature are extraordinary. For example, in the Club World Cup, our game against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, I can share was viewed globally by close to 30 million people. If you would have told me, and somebody would have told an MLS team in 2018, that they\u2019d be in a world club tournament and 30 million people would be watching that game, I think they would have signed on the dotted line at the time. But that\u2019s a reality that we\u2019re living in today, and it\u2019s a good reality and a great reality. And I think we just have to adapt rules so that we don\u2019t keep our greatest players off the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

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