Jorge Messi, the father of Argentina captain and football star Lionel Messi, died Saturday at a hospital in Rosario, Argentina. He was 68.
Newell’s Old Boys, the Rosario-based club where Lionel Messi began his youth career, announced Jorge Messi’s death in a social media post, saying he had been undergoing treatment in recent months for an unspecified illness.
The club described Jorge Messi as "the pillar” who, alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini, supported his son’s career with "vision, rigor and affection,” helping guide the player who would become one of football’s most celebrated stars.
The South American Football Confederation, known as CONMEBOL, also offered its condolences to Lionel Messi, expressing its "respect and affection” for the Argentina captain.
Lionel Messi led Argentina to a runner-up finish at this year’s World Cup. In the team’s opening match against Algeria, he was visibly emotional after scoring the first of his three goals in the tournament.
Messi later said his tears were for "a reason unrelated to sports.”
"I went through some difficult, complicated days,” he said. "I am grateful to the delegation, to all my teammates, because they were always by my side wishing me strength so that I would be OK.”
Media reports at the time angered the Messi family, which days later released a statement confirming that "Jorge is experiencing a health issue,” without specifying the nature of his condition.
"A person’s health and the peace of mind of their loved ones should not be the subject of speculation or irresponsible media interest,” the statement said. It also expressed "discomfort at the lack of sensitivity, respect and scruples with which some people have treated a strictly private and family matter.”
Jorge Messi was a chemical technician and worked as a steelworker. He played football as a midfielder and reached the youth ranks of Newell’s Old Boys but abandoned the sport to complete his mandatory military service in Argentina.
He played a fundamental role in his third son’s career, serving as his agent and managing his business affairs. He traveled with a young Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for the trial that opened the doors to La Masia, the Catalan club’s youth academy.
Lionel Messi made his professional debut in 2005 and went on to win eight Ballon d’Or awards. He also led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.
"My dad was always by my side,” Lionel Messi said in a 2007 interview with Radio del Plata. "Sometimes I would lock myself in my room to cry when we arrived in Barcelona, or my dad would do the same without me seeing him, or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both OK, but we weren’t. My dad even asked me what I wanted to do when we were feeling down, if I wanted to stay or go back, and I wanted to stay, and he stayed with me.”
His father negotiated contracts with Barcelona and later his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing the use of his son’s image rights and his investments in real estate, hotels and restaurants.
In 2016, Jorge Messi and his son were convicted by Spanish courts on tax fraud charges but avoided prison because their sentences were less than two years.