Lionel Messi’s father Jorge dies aged 68
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People leaving flags and signs to pay respects on the fence of Argentina's football star Lionel Messi's birth house in Rosario, Santa Fe province, Argentina, on August 8, after his father, Jorge Messi, died.
PHOTO: AFP
ROSARIO – Jorge Messi, the father and agent of Lionel Messi, has died aged 68, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s childhood club Newell’s Old Boys announced on Aug 8.
Argentinian media reported that Jorge Messi had died on Aug 7 in a hospital in his hometown of Rosario.
“His constant companionship and behind-the-scenes leadership were essential in backing every step of Lionel,” Newell’s Old Boys said in a social media post.
The 39-year-old Argentinian star arrived in his home country on Aug 8 alongside his partner, Antonela Roccuzzo, and their children, with most dressed in black, an AFP journalist reported from the airport.
The funeral was scheduled for Aug 9 in a private ceremony in the town of Perez, near Rosario, local administrative sources said.
Messi’s family asked the media for “humanity” during the recent World Cup amid persistent rumours over Jorge’s health.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) sent its condolences to the Messi family.
“On behalf of Spanish football, we wish to convey all our love and affection to Lionel and his loved ones during this time of deep sorrow,” the RFEF said in a statement.
Inter Miami said in a statement: “Our hearts are with our captain, Leo, and the entire Messi family.”
The Major League Soccer club lost 2-1 to visiting Monterrey in a Leagues Cup match on Aug 8, with both teams observing a minute of silence before the match for Jorge.
A former metal factory worker, Jorge was his son’s first coach in Argentina and his sole companion when he first moved to Barcelona as a child, before later becoming his agent.
“My father helped me enormously. He is very critical of me. That made me always want to push myself further,” Messi told DirecTV Sports in 2022.
In 2000, Jorge left behind a stable job in Argentina, his wife and three other children to move to Spain with his 13-year-old son.
“When we arrived in Barcelona, I used to lock myself in my room to cry alone, and my father did the same – either without me seeing him or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both fine, but we were struggling,” Messi later said.
“When things were tough, my father even asked me what I wanted to do, whether I wanted to keep going or go back home. I wanted to continue, so he stayed with me.”
Subsequently, Jorge finalised his son’s first contract with Barcelona, becoming his agent and sole representative with the Spanish club and later at Paris Saint-Germain and in Miami.
A private man, Jorge rarely gave interviews, but on the few occasions when he did, he spoke of his unbreakable bond with his son.
“The day Leo stops playing, I think a dream will shatter for me, and I won’t watch football any more,” he told German magazine Kicker in 2013.
However, his life was not without controversy.
In 2013, the Spanish authorities accused both father and son of using a network of companies across the UK, Switzerland, Belize and Uruguay between 2007 and 2009 to collect the footballer’s image rights and evade Spanish taxes.
The case was resolved in 2017 following multi-million-euro fines.
In 2019, Jorge and Lionel – along with the Leo Messi Foundation – faced new allegations in Spain involving suspected tax offences, fraud and money laundering.
This second case was dismissed in 2021. AFP
