Will the MLS Disciplinary Committee take action against Lionel Messi?

The headlines for Lionel Messi coming out of Inter Miami CF's 2-2 draw with New York City FC should have been all about his two excellent assists, the second in stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts.

Instead, much of the postmatch attention coming out of the draw is focused on the heated exchange Messi had with both referee Alexis Da Silva and New York City assistant coach Mehdi Ballouchy following the full-time whistle.

Messi got in Da Silva's face and said a few choice words to earn himself a postgame yellow card after appearing to be upset with the referee's handling of a match that saw Miami's Tomás Avilés shown a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity in the 23rd minute. The ref wasn't Messi's only target, as he eventually turned his attention to Mehdi Ballouchy.

Ballouchy and Messi exchanged some words and Messi then proceeded to put his hands on the back of Ballouchy's neck, appearing to also apply enough pressure to cause Ballouchy to recoil and stare some daggers in Messi's direction. You can watch the entirety of the exchange below in this embedded post from AppleTV's Taylor Twellman on the website formerly known as Twitter.

Not exactly good sportsmanship or role model behavior being shown here by one of the sport's greatest players of all time and the current face of Major League Soccer. The question now is: Will Messi be punished by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for his actions?

According to the 2025 MLS Competition Guidelines, Messi should, at minimum, be facing a monetary fine for his actions. The league's rules state the following when it comes to incidents that involve "Hands to the Face/Head/Neck of an Opponent":

"Individuals witnessed to have contacted the face, head, and/or neck of an opponent, which incites or escalates an individual incident (as determined by the Disciplinary Committee) and/or an incident that results in mass confrontation (as determined by the Disciplinary Committee), will receive a minimum of a fine."

There's some gray area included in that statement because it all hinges on what the Disciplinary Committee determines, but Messi was caught red-handed and on video placing his hand firmly on the back of Ballouchy's neck. The incident didn't escalate from there, instead dying down as the teams, coaches, and players made their way off the field, but adding that moment to Messi's berating of the referee makes for a bad look for the Argentine legend.

Herons Head Coach Javier Mascherano directly addressed the incident after being asked about it in a press conference held earlier today. "In football, to understand the players and the emotions of the players you have to be inside on the pitch," the Argentine said. "It's difficult sometimes to control the emotions. I think the press sometimes wants to wheel up a circle, you know — or a circus – about it."

Miami collectively were not happy campers about playing this MLS season opener against New York City. They had an extremely short turnaround, playing a subzero Concacaf Champions League match against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night. The league did delay kickoff from 2:30 to 7:30 pm ET to give Miami some more rest, but it didn't appear to appease the reigning Supporters' Shield winners.

There was a different sort of controversy concerning referee Marco Antonio Ortiz Nava after the end of that game. The official was handed a six-month ban after he "approached the player to request an autograph for a family member with special needs" and seemingly requested Messi's No 10 jersey, which he later received according to ESPN.

Mascherano referred to the quick turnaround after that game as an "unprecedented" situation in his pre-match comments, then admitted postgame that his team asked the league to postpone the game vs NYCFC to Sunday to give them even more rest.

The game also did not go Miami's way, with Avilés sent off and other decisions – like for example, NYCFC's Strahinja Tanasijević being spared a possible second yellow card at the end of the first half – not made in Messi & Co's favor. There was also a late-game VAR check for a possible handball infraction by Ilenič that would have given Miami a penalty kick, but the officials upheld the initial no-PK decision on review.

It seems reasonable to assume Messi's ire rested mainly with the officiating, but NYCFC also seemed to get under Miami's skin all night, perhaps starting with that now-infamous Mitja Ilenič set-piece goal and Cristiano Ronaldo celebration. Did Mitja's in-your-face ode to Ronaldo get under Messi's skin? We might never know, but it was clear that Messi was not in a jovial mood at the full-time whistle.

Mitja really is that guy 🐐 https://t.co/EorQGzpSlc pic.twitter.com/vhBOmSXQni

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) February 23, 2025

Now we'll wait to see if the league claws back any of the over $20 million owed to Messi in 2025 compensation for this out-of-character postmatch incident.