Tom Krasovic: Note to Major League Soccer — don’t mess with Messi
This isn’t a good sign for San Diego FC and its fans.
The folks who run Major League Soccer were dumb enough to suspend Lionel Messi.
“You don’t mess with Messi” would seem an easy concept to adopt and apply, but the Inspector Clouseaus who lead MLS proved otherwise this week. They sidelined the one player who moves the MLS needle and plants the league’s flag in soccer-obsessed countries abroad.
Messi’s crime was to skip the All-Star Game on Wednesday in hot Texas, setting up the old striker — he’s 38 — to play Saturday in Miami’s home-field showdown against FC Cincinnati.
MLS commissioner Don Garber suspended Messi and teammate Jordi Alba for Saturday’s game. In justifying the suspension, he hid behind a puny rulebook.
“We have a long-standing policy regarding participation in the All-Star Game and we had to enforce it,” he told The Athletic.
Garber should’ve seen this scenario coming long ago. The commissioner knew that Messi, now in his third MLS season, would have to work extra hard this summer. Messi, after all, led Inter Miami in the FIFA Club World Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup. And Garber knew Messi would be named to the All-Star squad.
The smart play, many months ago, would’ve been to amend the All-Star Game policy to create flexibility, such as allowing the commissioner to levy a stiff fine, either to the player or a team, in lieu of a suspension.
Garber, seeing the bind created by a clogged soccer schedule, said he understands Messi’s decision to skip the All-Star Game. “I can’t argue with it whatsoever,” he said.
It’s amazing how much soccer Messi has played this summer, given his age.
Though he’s ancient for a striker, Messi has logged every minute for Inter Miami during a nine-game stretch lasting 35 days, from the Club World Cup opener on June 14 to the club’s final match July 19, reported USA Today.
Once again giving the U.S. league a big lift, the Argentine enabled MLS to save face in the Club World Cup by leading Miami to a victory and two ties, where the other two MLS clubs went winless with one tie in their six matches combined.
Because of Messi, three of Miami’s four matches drew Club World Cup crowds exceeding 60,000. Also because of Messi, Inter Miami has played more games than any club in MLS with 34 matches across all competitions this season, per USA Today.
The suspension left Messi “extremely upset,” said Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas, who labeled the punishment “draconian.”
“Their reaction was exactly as expected of two competitive players who don’t understand the decision, who don’t understand why not attending an exhibition match leads directly to a suspension,” Mas said, per ESPN.
San Diegans — more so than fans in many other U.S. markets — can appreciate what a world-renowned soccer star can mean to an American soccer league.
When Alex Morgan played for the San Diego Wave, the post-match screams of hundreds of young girls who’d descended to field level in quest of Morgan’s autograph made other Wave players and coach Casey Stoney inaudible during on-field interviews.
With Morgan on board, the fledgling Wave set numerous attendance records in the National Women’s Soccer League. Without her, the team’s average crowd size has dropped by more than 30% from its peak despite the club’s extraordinary improvements on offense this year.
You don’t mess with Messi.
Pro tip to MLS’ commish and the team owners he placated by suspending Messi: Bone up on your Emerson.
A foolish consistency is indeed the hobgoblin of little minds, and makes America’s top soccer league look small-time.
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