Lionel Messi is facing a lawsuit from a Miami-based event promoter who alleges the football star breached a $7m contract by failing to play in a scheduled exhibition match last year.
According to court records, Vid Music Group filed the case in a Miami Dade circuit court last month, accusing Lionel Messi and the Argentine Football Association of fraud and breach of contract.
The company says it has secured exclusive rights to organise and promote Argentina’s friendly matches against Venezuela and Puerto Rico in October, in return for ticket sales, broadcast rights and sponsorship revenue. It claims the agreement required Lionel Messi to play at least 30 minutes in each match unless he was injured.
Lionel Messi did not feature in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Venezuela on October 10, instead watching from a suite at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida. However, he played the following day for his club Inter Miami in a Major League Soccer match, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over Atlanta United.
He later appeared in Argentina’s 6-0 victory over Puerto Rico on October 14. That match had originally been scheduled in Chicago but was moved to Florida amid low ticket sales and other concerns, a change the promoter says contributed to financial losses.
The promoter alleges it suffered losses running into millions of dollars due to Lionel Messi’s absence from one match and poor attendance at the other.
Lionel Messi and the Argentine Football Association have not yet responded to the lawsuit.
