Messi Sued by Miami Promoter Over No-Show in Argentina Friendly

VID Music Group files fraud, breach of contract suit against Messi, AFA

Lionel Messi, AFA, Argentine Football Association, VID Music Group, Julian Marcos Kapelan, breach of contract, fraud, Hard Rock Stadium, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Inter Miami, Chase Stadium

Lawsuit claims Messi was contractually required to play 30 minutes per friendly...

 

Lionel Messi is facing a lawsuit from a Miami-based event promoter alleging he breached a contract by not playing in an exhibition match last year, according to court records filed March 31.

  

VID Music Group filed fraud and breach of contract claims last month against Messi and the Argentine Football Association in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, records show. The suit also names sports executive Julian Marcos Kapelan.

The complaint says VID signed a deal with the AFA last summer that gave it exclusive rights to organize and promote Argentina’s October friendlies against Venezuela and Puerto Rico, in return for ticketing, broadcast, and sponsorship revenue.

 

The promoter claims the deal required Messi to play at least 30 minutes in each match unless he was injured. It calls his participation “a central element of the match’s commercial value” and the “primary economic driver of the matches.”

 

The lawsuit accuses Messi of conspiring with Kapelan and the AFA “to engage in conduct” aimed at inducing VID to sign the contracts with the AFA “under false pretenses.” Messi is also accused of negligent misrepresentation.

Claims against the AFA include alleged negligent misrepresentation and breaches of contract tied to the Venezuela match, the October game against Puerto Rico, and two proposed fixtures set for the United States in June 2026. Kapelan is accused of fraud.

Messi, 38, did not feature in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Venezuela on October 10. The lawsuit says he watched the game from a suite at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.

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The next day, Messi started and scored twice for Inter Miami in a 4-0 win over Atlanta United.

He later featured for Argentina in a 6-0 win over Puerto Rico on October 14, registering two assists in a match also organized and promoted by VID. The game was moved from Chicago and played at Inter Miami’s then-home ground, Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.