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Sunday, Aug 09, 2026
Outside the box.
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
The quiet figure who backed Lionel Messi’s early move to Barcelona and later managed his career died in Rosario after a prolonged illness.
Jorge Messi, the father and longtime representative of Lionel Messi, has died at 68 after a prolonged illness in Rosario, Argentina.
His death was announced by Newell’s Old Boys, the Rosario club where Lionel Messi began his football journey, and was followed by tributes from across Argentine football.
Jorge Messi occupied an unusual place in one of the most celebrated careers in sport.
He was neither a coach nor a public-facing celebrity, and he generally avoided the attention that followed his son.
Yet he was present at the decisions that shaped Lionel Messi’s life: the early years in Rosario, the search for treatment for his son’s growth hormone deficiency, the move to Spain and the business arrangements that followed international fame.
When Lionel Messi was a child at Newell’s Old Boys, the family faced the difficulty of paying for the medical treatment he needed.
Barcelona’s interest created an opening.
Jorge Messi accompanied his 13-year-old son to Spain in 2000, helping him navigate the move at a time when the outcome was far from certain and much of the family initially remained in Argentina.
That decision became one of the defining turns in modern football.
Lionel Messi joined Barcelona’s youth system, developed into the club’s greatest player and went on to captain Argentina to the 2022 World Cup.
Behind that public story was a father who handled practical decisions, negotiations and the pressures that came with extraordinary success.
Jorge Messi later became his son’s agent and remained a central figure in the commercial and professional structure surrounding him.
His role brought scrutiny at times, particularly during legal disputes involving the family’s tax affairs in Spain.
But his reputation within Lionel Messi’s inner circle was primarily that of a protective father and an enduring adviser.
The family had disclosed in June that Jorge Messi was receiving medical care for an unspecified health condition and asked for privacy.
No official cause of death has been publicly detailed.
For Lionel Messi, the loss arrives after a career built in full public view but anchored by a family that has remained unusually close to its Rosario roots.
Jorge Messi’s contribution was rarely the headline.
It was the constant support behind the player who became one of football’s defining figures.
His death was announced by Newell’s Old Boys, the Rosario club where Lionel Messi began his football journey, and was followed by tributes from across Argentine football.
Jorge Messi occupied an unusual place in one of the most celebrated careers in sport.
He was neither a coach nor a public-facing celebrity, and he generally avoided the attention that followed his son.
Yet he was present at the decisions that shaped Lionel Messi’s life: the early years in Rosario, the search for treatment for his son’s growth hormone deficiency, the move to Spain and the business arrangements that followed international fame.
When Lionel Messi was a child at Newell’s Old Boys, the family faced the difficulty of paying for the medical treatment he needed.
Barcelona’s interest created an opening.
Jorge Messi accompanied his 13-year-old son to Spain in 2000, helping him navigate the move at a time when the outcome was far from certain and much of the family initially remained in Argentina.
That decision became one of the defining turns in modern football.
Lionel Messi joined Barcelona’s youth system, developed into the club’s greatest player and went on to captain Argentina to the 2022 World Cup.
Behind that public story was a father who handled practical decisions, negotiations and the pressures that came with extraordinary success.
Jorge Messi later became his son’s agent and remained a central figure in the commercial and professional structure surrounding him.
His role brought scrutiny at times, particularly during legal disputes involving the family’s tax affairs in Spain.
But his reputation within Lionel Messi’s inner circle was primarily that of a protective father and an enduring adviser.
The family had disclosed in June that Jorge Messi was receiving medical care for an unspecified health condition and asked for privacy.
No official cause of death has been publicly detailed.
For Lionel Messi, the loss arrives after a career built in full public view but anchored by a family that has remained unusually close to its Rosario roots.
Jorge Messi’s contribution was rarely the headline.
It was the constant support behind the player who became one of football’s defining figures.
