According to Argentine media mdz, Messi was sued by a company for not playing in the national team's friendly match against Venezuela last October, and that lawsuit was recently dismissed by a U.S. court.

A U.S. court recently ruled to dismiss a lawsuit against Messi. The case stemmed from two friendly matches last October between the Argentine national team and Venezuela and Puerto Rico, in which the plaintiff accused Messi of failing to fulfill contractual obligations and sought millions of dollars in damages from him. Now, with the judge's ruling, the Argentine captain has secured an important legal victory.

The ruling was issued by Judge Lisa Walsh of the Miami-Dade County Court in Florida, who supported the dismissal motion filed by Messi's defense in her ruling.

Ruling Wording

"Having reviewed the written materials submitted by both parties and the case file, this court supports Messi's motion to dismiss," the ruling, released last weekend, stated.

What is this lawsuit about?

The story begins in April this year. The promotion company Vid Music Global (VMG) filed a lawsuit, claiming that it had paid 7 million U.S. dollars to acquire the exclusive rights to organize and promote two friendly matches of the Argentine national team – against Venezuela and Puerto Rico respectively.

According to the agreement, Messi had to "play at least 30 minutes in each match," unless there were special circumstances such as injury, illness, or force majeure.

The point of contention is that Messi refused to play in the match against Venezuela due to injury, but played for Inter Miami in a MLS regular season match the next day. This led the plaintiff to believe that Messi had broken his promise, especially since he had appeared in official promotional materials before the match, greatly whetting fans' appetites.

What did the judge think?

Lisa Walsh was not convinced. She believed that many of the "facts" claimed by the plaintiff were simply untenable. In her ruling, she wrote: "Training with the national team and attending pre-match meetings are not commitments at the factual level of the event, but rather routine preparations that every player makes before a match, regardless of whether they ultimately play or not."

In addition, this dismissal only applies to Messi himself. As for the Argentine Football Association and agent Julián Marcos Capellán, who were also listed as defendants, the judge's ruling did not give a clear opinion.

How are the economic losses calculated?

VMG claimed that due to the Puerto Rico friendly match, originally scheduled to be held in Chicago, being temporarily moved to Miami due to immigration protests, the company directly lost 1.3 million U.S. dollars. What annoyed them even more was that Messi's absence from the first match significantly reduced public enthusiasm for the second match—even though he subsequently started in that match.

At a press conference in April, the plaintiff's side spoke in a strong tone, stating that Messi "was part of the plan" and could not "shirk responsibility and leave." The entire lawsuit listed 11 charges, including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, fraudulent inducement, and negligent misrepresentation.

It is worth mentioning that even before the match, Messi's availability was already in question.

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