MIAMI, FLORIDA – AUGUST 12: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF reacts during the Leagues Cup Phase One match between Inter Miami CF and Leon at Nu Stadium on August 12, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Rich Storry/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Major League Soccer fined Inter Miami’s Argentine superstar Lionel Messi an undisclosed amount on Friday for slapping Philadelphia’s Quinn Sullivan on the back of the neck in the clubs’ 2-2 draw on Wednesday.
The league’s disciplinary committee said it had levied the fine “for violating the league’s policy regarding hands to the face/head/neck of an opponent.”
Miami’s Ian Fray was fined an undisclosed amount for the same infraction.
It was late in stoppage time of a testy contest when Messi approached the center circle to confront Sullivan while the ball was in play in another area of the field.
