MLS Fines Messi, Another Inter Miami Player for Head and Neck Contact in 2-2 Draw with Philadelphia

Stoppage time in the Inter Miami-Philadelphia Union match ended up generating more headlines than the score itself. What finished as a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night turned, three days later, into a batch of MLS sanctions that includes none other than Lionel Messi.

The league confirmed Friday that both Messi and teammate Ian Fray were fined for making contact with the head and neck area of opponents, in two separate incidents that occurred in the same final stretch of the match. As is typical with these kinds of fines in MLS, the amounts were not disclosed.

Messi's incident happened while he was arguing with Union player Quinn Sullivan: the Argentine placed his hand on the back of Sullivan's neck during the exchange of words. It was an odd note on a night that otherwise carried significant emotional weight: Messi scored his first goal since the death of his father, Jorge Messi, and also added an assist.

Sullivan, curiously, was also involved in the second incident that resulted in a fine. The Union forward lost his balance while dribbling toward the opposing box and got tangled up with Fray, who grabbed him by the neck. Sullivan's reaction was immediate: he got up quickly and knocked Fray down in the ensuing scuffle.

Two Red Cards, and One That Gets Overturned

The end of the match was even more chaotic. Already in stoppage time, an off the ball incident led to two ejections: Yannick Bright of Inter Miami, and Cavan Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan's brother, on the Philadelphia Union side.

However, MLS decided on Friday to rescind both the red card and the one match suspension that had been imposed on Cavan Sullivan. The league explained that its Independent Review Panel voted unanimously to overturn the sanction, fully backing the young Union player's version of events.

The week's disciplinary batch did not end in Miami. In a separate matter unrelated to this whole saga, Minnesota United defender Anthony Markanich was also fined, in his case for simulation during the second half of his team's 2-1 loss to Atlanta United, played that same Wednesday.

With Messi involved, any gesture gets magnified, and this was no exception. MLS made clear that not even the league's biggest stars are exempt from review when there is contact in sensitive areas like the neck and head, something the league has been closely monitoring in recent years.