MIAMI.- The American Lawyer Ralph Patinorepresenting the promoter VID Music Groupstated this Tuesday that the star Lionel Messi is an accomplice of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in a million-dollar lawsuit for breach of contract.
Patino, a lawyer with 35 years of experience, considered VID Music Group’s legal action as an act of responsibility.
“VID entered into a contract to promote four soccer games, two in October and two in June,” Patino said at a news conference in Miami.
“The contract contemplated the presence of Messi as an active participant, he had to play 30 minutes of each game,” he added.
“The contract as such had consequences in the absence of Messi. The reason for the lawsuit is to recover damages derived from Messi’s absence,” said the lawyer.
The Argentine star and world champion in Qatar 2022 He was absent from the first game against Venezuela on October 10, 2025, this being the main reason for the lawsuit, although he participated in the 90 minutes in the 6-0 victory over Puerto Rico three days later.
When asked about Messi’s direct involvement in the lawsuit, Patino pointed to the American legal principle of “knew or should have known.”
“Mr. Messi did not sign the contract between the AFA and VID Group,” Patino highlighted. “There is a key within the contract where AFA is guaranteeing that Messi plays, if you look at it based on the law of breach of contract, Messi has no responsibility.”
“At the same time that he receives money from the AFA for playing in this game and is practicing and is part of the concentration of the game and the squad, Mr. Messi already knows that he has an obligation to play and if he does not know it, he has to know it, then he is complicit in what he did between him and the AFA.”
Expensive rights
VID Music Group obtained the rights to Argentina for the date FIFA of October last year with a value of 3.5 million dollars per game, while the matches of the month of June rose to a price of 5 million dollars each.
Javier Fernandezowner of VID Music Group, was present at the conference although he did not provide statements.
Under the consideration of the group of lawyers, this is the first lawsuit of its kind against the AFA in USA.
