Major League Soccer fined Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi an undisclosed amount on Tuesday for placing his hand on a New York City FC assistant coach's neck. The incident happened during Saturday's 2-2 draw.

Former Barcelona stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez were fined for their action in Inter Miami's draw vs. NYCFC in their opening game of the 2025 MLS season.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has been fined an undisclosed amount for grabbing one of New York City FC's coaching staff on the neck after Saturday's MLS opener, the league said. Video footage showed Messi approach the coach and grab the back of his neck,

Telasco Segovia scored the tying goal on an assist by Lionel Messi in the 10th minute of stoppage time and Inter Miami played New York City FC to a 2-2 draw in their MLS opener.

Despite crashing out of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs against Atlanta United, Miami were by far the best team through the regular season. With 22 wins in 34 matches, they hit 74 points to set a new single-season MLS points record, all while missing Lionel Messi for over a third of the season.

While the Herons set an MLS-record for points in 2024 (74), they were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by Atlanta United (two games to one), with the Pigeons being knocked out in round two by the New York Red Bulls, 2-0.

Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has been fined by Major League Soccer following a controversial exchange at the end of the match against New York City FC. Lionel Messi started the year in top form, scoring two goals and providing two assists in three matches for Inter Miami.

Lionel Messi was left raging after Inter Miami's opening game of the MLS season and he was spotted grabbing a New York City FC coach by the neck. The Argentine was also seen fuming at the referee in shocking scenes.