{"id":2480,"date":"2026-06-18T22:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480"},"modified":"2026-06-18T22:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:37:01","slug":"lionel-messis-family-pleads-for-humanity-as-the-argentina-captains-father-undergoes-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>By D\u00c9BORA REY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>DALLAS (AP) \u2014 Lionel Messi\u2019s father is undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness and his family asked the media for \u201chumanity\u201d on Thursday amid rumors about Jorge Messi\u2019s health while his son competes at the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2478\">San Jose opposes statewide tax measure as mayor warns 2,000 people could be pushed back onto streets<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The family did not specify the illness that the 68-year-old Jorge Messi is suffering from.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJorge is going through a health situation,\u201d the Messi family said in a statement. \u201cHe is currently under medical observation, recovering and progressing favorably within his current condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old Messi said after Argentina\u2019s 3-0 victory over Algeria in the team\u2019s opening World Cup match that he was going through a difficult personal situation. He was very emotional after scoring the first of his three goals, which allowed him to equal Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy tears after the first goal? I\u2019ve had some tough days. It wasn\u2019t related to soccer. And those feelings were because of that,\u201d Messi said. \u201cI thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The family statement, released by Messi\u2019s media office, came on the same day that reports of Jorge Messi\u2019s death circulated in Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt times like these, we ask for responsibility, prudence and humanity,\u201d the family said. \u201cA person\u2019s health and the peace of mind of their loved ones should not be the subject of speculation or irresponsible media interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2477\">Paraguay, Turkey set for surprise World Cup survival match in Santa Clara<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The statement said any further developments would be communicated by the family.<\/p>\n<p>Jorge Messi played a key role in his third son\u2019s soccer career, acting as his agent and managing his business affairs off the field.<\/p>\n<p>He accompanied the young Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for a tryout at La Masia, the Spanish club\u2019s youth academy.<\/p>\n<p>His father also negotiated Messi\u2019s contracts with Barcelona and then his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing his son\u2019s image rights and several investments in real estate, hotels and restaurants.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 2016, Messi and his father were convicted in Spain on tax evasion charges but avoided prison time because the sentence was less than two years.<\/p>\n<p>While Messi is with his teammates at Argentina\u2019s base camp in Kansas City awaiting their second group match against Austria on Monday in Dallas, his family expressed their \u201csincere gratitude for the outpouring of affection, respect and concern received.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe request that the privacy and confidentiality of Jorge and his entire family be respected during this process,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2475\">600-plus homes are being eyed on adjacent plots of empty San Jose land<\/a><\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi&#8217;s father is undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness and his family asked the media for &#8220;humanity&#8221; on Thursday amid rumors about Jorge Messi&#8217;s health while his son competes at the World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lionel Messi&#039;s father is undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness and his family asked the media for &quot;humanity&quot; on Thursday amid rumors about Jorge Messi&#039;s health while his son competes at the World Cup.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480\",\"name\":\"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2480#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest","og_description":"Lionel Messi's father is undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness and his family asked the media for \"humanity\" on Thursday amid rumors about Jorge Messi's health while his son competes at the World Cup.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment","datePublished":"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480","name":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-18T22:37:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7d3d47c490b24306108d47280f3b4a3f.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2480#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lionel Messi\u2019s family pleads for \u2018humanity\u2019 as the Argentina captain\u2019s father undergoes treatment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}