Jorge Messi, father of football icon Lionel Messi, has died at a hospital in Rosario, Argentina. He was 68.
Club Newell’s Old Boys says he’d been treated for an undisclosed illness in recent months.
Jorge Messi was the architect behind his son Lionel Messi’s rise to the top of world football.
He managed Lionel’s career from the start, traveling with him to Barcelona as a teenager for the trial that landed him a spot in the club’s famed youth academy.
Jorge went on to negotiate his son’s contracts, with Barcelona, PSG, and Inter Miami and oversaw his business ventures, from real estate to restaurants.
In 2013, father and son were accused by Spanish prosecutors of concealing earnings tied to Lionel’s image rights. Jorge later paid more than five million euros to settle the back taxes and interest.
Argentina’s soccer federation is honoring him with a moment of silence at all matches this weekend, and players will wear black armbands in his memory.