Red card for Lionel Messi … who is at the center of a bombshell lawsuit in Florida, with a promoter claiming the soccer legend left them bleeding cash on a pair of hyped up friendlies that they claim he blew off.
VID, a Miami-based company that puts on large-scale music and sporting events, according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, filed a lawsuit against the 38-year-old footballer and the Argentine Football Association on Tuesday in South Florida, alleging fraud and breach of contract, saying they were burned out of millions of dollars.
In August, VID says they struck a deal and ultimately paid the AFA $7 million for the exclusive rights to two exhibition match-ups scheduled for October — Argentina vs. Venezuela, and Argentina vs. Puerto Rico.
They claim Messi was contractually obligated to play at least 30 minutes in each game unless he was injured. In other words, Argentina was playing, but Messi was the draw.
Unfortunately, VID says Lionel bailed on his obligation, deciding not to play … and instead watching the game with his family from a luxury suite. Adding insult to injury, the promoter says they footed the bill for those costs.
VID says Messi wasn’t injured … and they say they know that because he played the very next day, lacing up his cleats and scoring two goals and an assist for Inter Miami.
The second friendly, just a few days later, was also a mess, according to VID, who says they were forced to move the game from Chicago to a small arena in Ft. Lauderdale over civil unrest in the Windy City, resulting in the loss of over a million bucks, according to the suit.
After the disastrous games, VID says AFA promised to make things right with future matchups against China in 2026, but it never came to fruition.
While it’s unclear exactly how much cash VID is seeking, they claim they’ve lost millions, and they want to be made whole, plus some.
We reached out to the AFA and Messi’s team for comment.
So far, no word back.