Lionel Messi playing on artificial turf? MLS commissioner Don Garber hopes not
Lionel Messi’s MLS journey is going to be, among many things, a strange one.
MLS is an unconventional league after all, for reasons ranging from its rules, the time of year and range of climates games are held in, and so much more. That list of oddities includes games on turf, something that Messi will have to tackle at Inter Miami for the first time in his career.
Miami’s schedule for the rest of 2023 includes visits to face Atlanta United and Charlotte FC, both of whom play on plastic pitches in cavernous NFL stadiums. A deep run in the Leagues Cup could theoretically add another game or two against the other four teams that play on turf.
For MLS commissioner Don Garber, it’s a situation he hopes other MLS clubs will want to avoid.
Garber acknowledged to The Athletic that while the final say on whether Messi plays on turf will fall to the Argentina legend and Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino, he’s hoping that clubs will roll out a literal green carpet for the iconic No. 10.
“That’s going to be the decision of every club when they do travel to those stadiums that don’t have natural grass,” Garber said on the topic of a temporary grass surface being placed on top of existing artificial turf. “There have been no commitments one way or the other to that ... my expectations are that that’s what they will do, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to figure all of that out. MLS promotes a lot of international games and we have been able to bring natural grass into those stadiums, but we’ve never done that for a regular-season game.”
At this point Atlanta and Charlotte have no plans to bring a temporary pitch in for Messi’s arrival, according to The Athletic.
Quite a first day at work: Lionel Messi's first Inter Miami practice includes David Beckham, media horde, helicopter
Will Lionel Messi follow in Thierry Henry’s footsteps?
Garber cited some past global stars who came to MLS and, at least some of the time, opted to play on an artificial surface.
“I think a lot of international stars come into Major League Soccer and they are either intrigued or concerned about not playing on grass,” said Garber. “And then you see some of the best players who’ve ever played the game, the (Thierry) Henrys of the world and Kakas of the world, who played on turf. So I think that’s a process that will have to play out over time.”
Henry is something of a curious example for Garber to bring up, as the France and Arsenal legend did not play on nearly any of the turf surfaces around MLS. The New York Red Bulls played 16 competitive games on turf during his four-and-a-half MLS seasons, and Henry participated in just three: two appearances on the road against the Portland Timbers, and a playoff game against the New England Revolution.
Regardless, Garber admitted that the entire thing is a fast-changing situation, and that the league is placing its trust in Messi — who has said he will take MLS seriously — and his professionalism.
“I have great confidence in Messi’s professionalism,” Garber said. “I expect that he’s gonna want to do everything he can to play in as many games as he can. The operational aspects of that still need to be worked out.”
Lionel Messi dominates conversation at MLS All-Star Game
Garber took questions from reporters Tuesday, the day before the MLS All-Star Game in Washington D.C. Messi’s decision to come play for Inter Miami has given the North American league a boost, and it was no surprise when that topic came up quite a bit at the commissioner’s news conference.
“A transformational moment for our league, for sure,” Garber said. “You have the best player in the history of the game to be choosing Major League Soccer is something we couldn’t be more excited about — and the fact that the first game will be Friday in our new inaugural Leagues Cup.”
Messi is expected to make his debut for Inter Miami against Cruz Azul on Friday in the Leagues Cup, a Concacaf-sanctioned tournament that includes MLS teams from the U.S. and Canada, as well as participants from Mexico’s Liga MX.
What next for MLS?
When Garber was asked about what his next dream is for the league, he said MLS is “probably past the dream point.”
“We want to be one of the top soccer leagues in the world,” Garber said. “Now we proved to the world that we can at least compete with the top player in the world, but how do we capture the hearts and minds of fans around the world? How do we capture the hearts and minds of every player?”
That is how Garber will evaluate success after adding Messi.
“How does it really speak to the reputation of the league?” Garber said.
Contributing: The Associated Press