He had been hospitalized at a sanatorium in the city, according to Infobae, which described him as the husband of Celia Cuccittini and the father of Lionel, Rodrigo, Matias and Maria Sol.
Argentine and international outlets that carried the news attributed it to Infobae. Neither the Messi family nor its press office had issued a statement as of Aug. 8.
The news site Goal reported that no major international wire service had independently confirmed the death, and the family has never disclosed what illness he had.
Jorge managed most of his son’s affairs off the pitch for more than two decades, negotiating contract renewals at Barcelona and the moves to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.
He gave only a handful of interviews across his life, to El Gráfico, Germany’s Kicker and Spain’s Informe Robinson, El Litoral reported.
Messi wept after opening the scoring in the 17th minute against Algeria on June 16 at Kansas City Stadium, in a World Cup match he finished with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win.
He told reporters afterward that it was “a matter completely unrelated to sport” and that he had been through difficult days.
Pressed in the mixed zone by former Argentina defender Juan Pablo Sorin, working as a broadcaster, Messi said the tears were mainly about his family and that the squad was carrying him through a hard moment.
The family issued a statement on June 18 saying Jorge was under medical supervision, recovering and progressing favorably, The Associated Press reported.
It condemned the speculation circulating that day, which included a false on-air claim that he had died. The presenter who made it, Florencia Peña, apologized and left the streaming program where she said it.
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Lionel Messi’s father and agent Jorge Messi arrives at his lawyers’ office in Barcelona, Spain September 4, 2020. Photo by Reuters |
At Malvinas, Newell’s Old Boys’ youth complex in Rosario, Jorge took on the effort to get his son’s growth hormone treatment covered in Argentina, Infobae reported.
When the club could not fund it he pushed the boy toward a trial at River Plate, and when those talks collapsed he turned to Barcelona.
Barcelona signed the 13-year-old in 2000 and agreed to cover his treatment, an annual salary, housing, work for the family and image rights payments, according to Guillem Balagué’s biography “Messi.”
Jorge trained as a chemical technician and joined the Acindar steel plant in the 1980s, rising to manager, Balagué wrote, after playing as a midfielder in Newell’s youth ranks until compulsory military service ended his playing days.
Speaking to the Radio Del Plata program “Fútbol y algo más” in 2007, Messi recalled that in their first months in Spain both of them shut themselves away to cry without letting the other see, pretending to be fine while they were not.
His father eventually asked whether he wanted to keep going or go home, he said. He chose to stay.
Jorge appeared on camera in that same interview to tell his son that the hard moments had left them stronger, and that what mattered was not that Lionel was a great player but that he was a good person.
Lionel Messi turned 39 in June. He has won eight Ballon d’Or awards and the 2022 World Cup with Argentina.