July 29 – The Lionel Messi All-Star no show is a controversy that refuses to die, with Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano finally breaking his silence on the affair.
Messi was hit with a one-match ban by Major League Soccer (MLS) Commissioner Don Garber for skipping the annual showpiece event in Austin, Texas, causing the Argentina great to miss a marquee match-up for his club against FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
And Mascherano made his feelings clear in his post-match press conference after the game finished in a goalless draw.
“I have an opinion on what happened but I didn’t come here to criticise MLS,” Mascherano began, before proceeding to do exactly that. “We didn’t adapt to what happened, beyond the fact that I don’t agree with the decision — I don’t agree with it at all.
“What would’ve happened if today’s game was an away game? Did that also prevent Leo from playing? Because to fill stadiums and make money, no one complains, right?”
Opposing stadiums around the US typically sell out when Messi and Miami come to visit.
MLS Commissioner Garber had publicly acknowledged Messi’s busy schedule but has previous form in banning superstars in the form of LA Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“What I do find strange is that one day they say one thing and the next day they make a completely different decision,” Mascherano observed.
Jorge Mas calling the decision “draconian” was owner bluster. Mascherano’s surgical dissection of MLS logic felt far more damaging.