Major League Soccer has suspended Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for one match due to skipping the All-Star game on Wednesday, where the MLS All-Stars defeated the Liga MX All-Stars 3-1 in Austin. The league has a rule that players must feature in the All-Star game if selected and healthy unless there is prior approval from the league to not participate, but on the day of the match, Inter Miami announced that Messi and Alba would not be taking part.
MLS released a statement on the decision:
“Inter Miami CF’s Jordi Alba and Lionel Messi will be unavailable for the club’s match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, July 26, due to their absence at this week’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game. Per league rules, any player who does not participate in the All-Star Game without prior approval from the league is ineligible to compete in their club’s next match.”
They aren’t the first stars to be suspended in this manner, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic faced a similar suspension for the Los Angeles Galaxy after missing the All-Star game in 2018. This suspension will come at a critical time with Inter Miami facing FC Cincinnati on Saturday after losing to them 3-0 before the break.
Inter Miami’s head coach, Javier Mascherano, stated that Alba had a knock but that Messi was healthy and dealing with load management concerns during media availability on Friday.
What’s Javier Mascherano saying?
On Friday, the Miami manager expected that he would have Messi available due to him just returning to training the day before their match facing Cincinnati, before the suspension was handed down
“He presented fatigue that’s normal with the games and minutes we have played,” Mascherano said.
With Miami taking part in the Club World Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup, and Leagues Cup they have among the most games played in MLS alongside the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC. Miami was the only MLS team to make it out of the Group stage which did add more matches to their legs than other teams.
“It’s case by case and we have our arguments [for why he shouldn’t be suspended], which are objective and for everyone to see.”We’re the MLS team that’s played the most this year — by far,” Mascherano said.
What happened during the All-Star game?
Messi missed the MLS All-Star game last season due to injury, but per league policy, any player who misses the affair without a confirmed injury or approval from the league could be subjected to a one-match suspension. MLS commissioner Don Garber highlighted how challenging the schedule has been for Messi.
“He’s played nine matches in 30 days. Miami’s had a schedule that is unlike any other team. Most of our teams had a 10-day break. Miami hasn’t. We had Leo playing 90 minutes in almost all the games that he’s played … We have to manage through that as a league. The same time, we do have rules and we have to manage through that as well, so we would have loved to have Leo here. We’d have loved to have every player who was selected for the all-star team here, and after this all-star game, we’ll figure out what needs to happen this weekend. I was told this morning that neither Jordi or Messi practiced today, so Jordi came off with an injury last game, and we’ll have to manage through what Miami is going to say about that.”
“We should’ve known earlier, we should’ve addressed it earlier. No doubt about that.”
MLS stuck in a bind of its own making
This situation shows just how out of step MLS can be with the global game of soccer. While All-Star games are uniquely an American experience, they’re something that is still treated as optional in most cases, with players regularly not taking part for various personal reasons. And in the rest of the world, these types of exhibitions during the regular season don’t exist.
This was apparent back in 2018 when Zlatan responded to his suspension.
“I think it is ridiculous, but yeah, no comments,” Ibrahimovic said. “They do whatever they want. I come from a different world, I come from the real world.”
Now Garber is almost apologizing for needing to suspend the league’s biggest star, but if a rule is in place, a decision needs to be made to show that no one is above the current rules of the league, not even Messi. On Friday Garber spoke more about the decision with the Athletic.
“We are going to take a very hard look at the rule moving forward. It is important to all of our players and all of our fans that we have a policy that reflects and involves the realities of our league and its players going forward,” Garber said. “I am committed to working with all of our players and to start working with Leo Messi to adapt this rule so it makes sense going forward.”
With the league already looking at the advantages of shifting to a schedule in line with Europe, this also provides an opportunity to look at how the All-Star game is conducted. It makes commercial sense to want Messi and stars there, but rest for the remainder of the season is also important so a balance needs to be found.
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