MLS fines Messi, Fray and Markanich for unsporting conduct

MLS reviewed the footage from the closing minutes of a wild match and let no one off the hook, not even the league's biggest star. The league confirmed Friday that it had issued fines for unsporting conduct during second-half stoppage time of the 2-2 draw between Inter Miami and Philadelphia Union, a finish that got heated in a hurry.

The first player disciplined was Lionel Messi, who was fined for head and neck contact with an opponent. The incident happened when Inter Miami's captain exchanged words with the Union's Quinn Sullivan and slapped him on the back of the neck. As is standard practice in these cases, MLS did not disclose the amount of the fine.

What stands out is that the play was overshadowed by what had otherwise been a special night for Messi on the field: he scored his first goal since the death of his father, Jorge Messi, and added an assist in the same match. The heated moment in the game's final sequence ended up being the one sour note in a performance that was, in every other respect, charged with emotion.

Sullivan, oddly enough, was also involved in the other incident punished that night. Inter Miami defender Ian Fray was fined for a similar head and neck contact. The sequence began when Sullivan lost his balance while driving toward the opposing box and got tangled up with Fray, who reacted by grabbing him by the neck. Sullivan didn't take it lying down: he popped back up immediately and went in hard on a tackle against Fray, a moment that sums up just how tense that game had become.

A different kind of fine, for embellishment

MLS didn't only crack down on physical contact this week. The league also fined Minnesota United defender Anthony Markanich, but for a very different reason: embellishment, meaning exaggerating or overselling the severity of a foul or a contact. The play occurred in the second half of Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Atlanta United, also played on Wednesday.

These types of penalties, which the league applies retroactively after reviewing video once matches have concluded, are meant to discourage both off-the-ball hits and theatrical performances designed to influence referees. MLS typically doesn't reveal the dollar amounts of these fines, but it does publicly confirm which player each penalty applies to and the reason behind it.

For Inter Miami, with two players fined on the same day, the episode carries a double meaning: on one hand, it reflects the intensity the team showed in a match that slipped away in the final minutes; on the other, it highlights a set of behaviors the league itself decided could not go unpunished, regardless of what happened on the scoreboard.