Jorge Messi, Father and Agent of Lionel Messi, Dies at 68

ROSARIO, Argentina —

Jorge Messi, the father and longtime agent of Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, died early Saturday at Sanatorio Centro, a hospital in the central Argentine city of Rosario, according to the hospital and reports from ESPN, CNN and NBC News. He was 68.

Dr. Carlos Mackey, the hospital's medical director, said in a statement that Jorge Messi died around 2 a.m. Mackey did not disclose the cause of death, citing patient privacy rules and the family's wishes, according to NBC News.

A Career Spent Behind His Son

Newell's Old Boys, the Rosario club where Lionel Messi came up through the youth ranks, announced the death on social media and called Jorge Messi "the pillar" behind his son's rise, saying he supported the family "with vision, rigor and affection" alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini, according to ESPN and CNN.

Jorge Messi trained as a chemical technician and worked as a steelworker before turning to managing his son's career full time, ESPN reported. He accompanied a teenage Lionel Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for the trial that led to a spot at La Masia, the club's academy, and later negotiated his contracts with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, along with his image rights and investments in real estate, hotels and restaurants.

"My dad was always by my side," Lionel Messi said in a 2007 interview with Radio del Plata, recalling how the two of them hid their homesickness from each other during his early years in Spain, according to ESPN.

Tributes From Soccer's Biggest Institutions

FC Barcelona thanked Jorge Messi "for his commitment to our club" and for entrusting the team with his son's early career, according to a statement reported by ESPN. Inter Miami and Paris Saint-Germain also offered condolences, as did the Argentine Football Association and CONMEBOL, South American soccer's governing body, according to CNN.

Claudio Tapia, president of Argentina's soccer federation, praised Jorge Messi for "having raised a person of values: humble, respectful, and deeply committed to others," ESPN reported. The federation ordered a moment of silence and black armbands at all matches across Argentine soccer.

UNICEF, for which Lionel Messi serves as a goodwill ambassador, called Jorge Messi "a benefactor" of the organization, according to CNN.

Jorge Messi's health had been a subject of public speculation for months. Argentina reached this year's World Cup final before losing to Spain on July 19, and Lionel Messi wept during Argentina's opener against Algeria for what he later said was a reason unrelated to soccer, according to NBC News. Days later, the Messi family confirmed Jorge was dealing with a health issue and asked for privacy. In June, Argentine television host Florencia Peña resigned after wrongly reporting that Jorge Messi had already died, an error she attributed to bad information relayed to her on air, NBC News reported.