Speculation over Lionel Messi’s future with Inter Miami has intensified following the team’s early playoff exit and the controversy surrounding their unearned entry into the 2025 Club World Cup.
New Delhi: Lionel Messi’s future with Inter Miami has come under scrutiny following the team’s early elimination from the MLS playoffs and controversy surrounding their entry into the Club World Cup. Inter Miami was granted a spot in the tournament without going through the usual qualification process, sparking significant criticism and raising questions about the fairness of the competition.
To the disappointment of Miami fans, the team’s early playoff exit has intensified speculation about Messi’s future with the club. Although his contract extends until the end of the 2025 season, with an option for an extra year, doubts linger over his long-term commitment.
Firstly, it’s notable that, in an unexpected decision, FIFA awarded Inter Miami a spot in the 2025 Club World Cup as the “host nation’s representative,” given the tournament will take place in the United States. This move quickly drew backlash, with both critics and fans questioning the fairness of the decision, including prominent football journalist Martyn Ziegler, who openly criticized FIFA’s choice.
In his column for The Times, Ziegler revealed that FIFA was determined to keep Messi involved in the competition, seemingly at all costs.
“It is believed that Fifa wanted to be sure that Messi would be involved in order to attract sponsors and TV companies — it has still to announce who has the broadcast rights for the tournament — and did not want to take the risk that Inter Miami would not be MLS champions,” he wrote.
Amid the ongoing fallout, rumors of Messi’s potential departure from Inter Miami have intensified. Miami head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino has also hinted at the uncertainty surrounding Messi’s future with the club.
“I actually don’t know how limited [Messi’s time in this league] is,” he was quoted as saying by the Mirror.
“There is a question of time passing, but I would not dare to say that it is so short.
“If you look at the context in which this began, it seems to me that the progress of the club is important. The comparison of the last game of last season, back in October, with today’s third game in the playoffs and this bitterness that we all have for not having progressed, is clear that the club’s objectives have been modified, and I think there is no reason for the club not to continue trying next year.
“What happened this year, the bad and the good in general, have been better than everything that happened last year, and I would say even from the entire life of the club,” he concluded.