Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba were given one-game suspensions earlier this week for skipping Major League Soccer’s All-Star game.
The MLS squad defeated Mexico’s Liga MX All-Stars 3-1 on Wednesday in Austin, Texas, but both players were unavailable for the game.
Any player who doesn’t take part in the All-Star Game without the league’s approval is ineligible to play in their club’s next game, according to league rules, according to a statement released on Friday.
The duo will now miss Saturday’s home league game against FC Cincinnati because of this.
Lionel Messi, he continued, “knowing Lionel Messi loves this league.”
There isn’t, in my opinion, a player or person who has contributed more to the MLS than Messi. I fully respect his decision, as well as his commitment to Inter Miami.
Unfortunately, we had to impose a long-standing rule governing all-star game participation.
Messi, 38, has scored 18 goals this season for Javier Mascherano’s side in the MLS, while Alba, 36, has made 19 league appearances.
The Miami side’s quest to reach the Fifa Club World Cup quarter-finals included the two players, who also played together at Barcelona from 2012 to 2021.
Miami have played five matches this month, with Messi scoring eight goals, since their exit from the competition against eventual champions Paris St-Germain.
Forward, according to Miami head coach Mascherano, said in an earlier statement to ESPN that he “showed normal fatigue from the number of games and minutes he’s been playing.”
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- Major League Soccer in the United States
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Source: BBC
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