Jorge Messi, the father and agent of Lionel Messi, has died aged 68, the Argentine football star’s childhood club, Newell’s Old Boys, announced on Saturday.
Argentine media reported that Jorge Messi died on Friday in a hospital in Rosario, 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 Messi family had previously asked the media for “humanity” during the recent World Cup amid persistent reports about Jorge’s health.
The Spanish Football Federation also expressed 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 federation said in a statement.
Jorge Messi, a former metal factory worker, was his son’s first coach in Argentina and remained by his side when Lionel moved to Barcelona as a child. He later became his son’s 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 his stable job in Argentina, his wife and three other children to move to Spain with his 13-year-old son.
Recalling their early struggles in Barcelona, Messi said his father would also cry privately as the family adjusted to their new life.
“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.
He recalled that when the situation became difficult, his father asked whether he wanted to continue pursuing football or return home.
“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,” Messi said.
Jorge subsequently finalised his son’s first contract with Barcelona and became his agent and sole representative with the Spanish club. He later represented Messi during his spells at Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.
A private individual, Jorge Messi rarely granted interviews but occasionally spoke about his close relationship 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.
His career as his son’s representative was, however, not without controversy.
In 2013, Spanish authorities accused Jorge and Lionel Messi of using a network of companies across the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belize and Uruguay between 2007 and 2009 to collect income from the footballer’s image rights and evade taxes in Spain.
The case was resolved in 2017 following multi-million-euro fines.
In 2019, Jorge and Lionel Messi, alongside the Leo Messi Foundation, faced further allegations in Spain involving suspected tax offences, fraud and money laundering.
The second case was dismissed in 2021.
Jorge Messi’s death marks the loss of a key figure who played a central role in Lionel Messi’s journey from a young footballer in Argentina to one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport.