ARGENTINA – 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 Saturday.
Argentine media reported Jorge Messi had passed away on Friday in a hospital in his hometown of Rosario, the third-largest city in Argentina. “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 Argentine star arrived in his home country on Saturday 8 August, alongside his partner, Antonela Roccuzzo, and their children, mostly dressed in black, an AFP journalist reported from the airport.
The funeral will be held on Sunday 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.”
A former metal factory worker, Jorge Messi 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,” Lionel 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 Messi rarely gave interviews, but on the few occasions he spoke publicly about 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 anymore,” he told German magazine Kicker in 2013.
However, his life was not without controversy.
In 2013, 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.
