Jorge Messi, the father and long-time agent of football legend Lionel Messi, has died in hospital in Rosario, Argentina, at the age of 68, with Messi’s boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys among the first to confirm the news and pay tribute.
Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, has died at the age of 68. Jorge passed away in hospital in Rosario, Argentina, close to the Messi family home, at around 10pm local time on 7 August. The news was confirmed by Newell’s Old Boys, the club where Lionel Messi began his football career, following earlier reports from local Argentine media.
A career built alongside his son
Jorge Messi played a central role in his son’s career for decades, serving as Lionel Messi’s agent and adviser and negotiating many of the footballer’s most significant contracts and sponsorship deals throughout his career. He was instrumental in helping Messi join Barcelona’s La Masia academy in 2000, a move that saw the family relocate from Rosario to Spain after the club agreed to fund the young player’s growth hormone treatment.
Before taking on the role of managing his son’s career, Jorge worked in a steel factory in Rosario while coaching Lionel’s early youth teams and supporting his development as a footballer. He remained a regular presence throughout the major turning points of Messi’s professional career, including his departure from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 and his subsequent move to Inter Miami in 2023.
Charitable work and family life
Beyond his role in football, Jorge served as president of the Leo Messi Foundation, the family’s charitable organisation, which supports healthcare, education and social projects for vulnerable children around the world.
Rosario, Argentina’s third-largest city, remained central to the Messi family’s life throughout Lionel’s international career, with several close family members, including Jorge, continuing to live there. Despite his prominent role in one of football’s most successful careers, Jorge largely stayed out of the public spotlight, though he became well known within football circles as one of the sport’s most influential player representatives because of his son’s standing in the game.
Messi has frequently credited his father for the sacrifices made during his childhood, describing how his parents left their lives behind in Argentina so that he could pursue his football career in Spain.
Tributes from the football world
Newell’s Old Boys, the Rosario club where Messi began playing as a child and which has long maintained close ties with the Messi family, paid tribute to Jorge after confirming his death. Further tributes from across the football world are expected in the coming days, with clubs, current and former teammates, and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) likely to honour a man widely regarded as one of the key figures behind Lionel Messi’s rise from a talented youngster in Rosario to one of the greatest footballers in history.
