Lionel Messi, Inter Miami coach criticize MLS officiating after injury scare

Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino called on Major League Soccer to "revise" officiating amid a new player injury rule after star player Lionel Messi seemingly criticized it during a live broadcast following an injury scare to the 36-year-old on Sunday.

Messi, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner as the world's best player, briefly left Inter Miami’s match at Montreal late in the first half after evidently having some sort of issue with his left knee.

Messi was hurt in the 40th minute on a play near midfield. He was fouled by Montreal defender George Campbell and went down immediately, holding his knee and writhing in pain. Inter Miami’s medical staff went onto the field to treat Messi, who got up after about two minutes and walked to the Miami sideline. 

Messi was not subbed out, but under a new MLS rule, he had to spend two minutes on the sideline while Miami played with 10 men. During that period, Messi turned to the sideline camera and uttered his frustrations in Spanish, as broadcast microphones caught the Argentine superstar saying "With these types of rules … it's going bad."

Inter Miami later came back to win the match 3-2 in what marked Messi's first time playing in Canada during his nearly two-decade top-flight professional career.

The 2024 MLS rulebook states that "If the referee stops play due to a potential player injury in which the player remains on the ground for more than 15 seconds and the medical staff enters the field of play, the player may be required to leave the field of play for two minutes."

There are some circumstances that negate the required two-minute absence, one of which is if the injury occurred on a yellow or red card foul. Campbell was not carded for his foul of Messi. Martino took