MLS handed down the sanction on Friday, two days after Messi struck Philadelphia Union midfielder Quinn Sullivan on the back of the neck during a 101st-minute flare-up in Inter Miami’s 2-2 draw in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The referee did not caution him at the time. The league’s disciplinary review concluded afterwards that Messi had violated its policy on hands to the face, head or neck of an opponent, the exact rule that caught him in February 2025.

A repeat under identical wording

Eighteen months earlier, MLS punished Messi under the same policy after he placed his hand on the back of NYCFC assistant coach Mehdi Ballouchy’s neck at the final whistle of another 2-2 draw. That case also produced a fine and no suspension.

The New York flashpoint came after Messi turned back toward Ballouchy following the full-time whistle and squeezed the coach’s neck hard enough to appear to stun him. His Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez was fined at the same time for a separate hands-to-neck incident on NYCFC defender Birk Risa.

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Two rulings, no games missed

Both cases followed the same script: an off-the-ball or post-match incident, an internal MLS review, an undisclosed fine, no games missed. Because the league keeps its player-fine amounts private, there is no public way to see whether the second penalty landed harder than the first, or whether MLS’s disciplinary math treats a repeat under the same rule as an aggravating factor at all.

What is public is the pattern. Two adjudicated incidents involving the most-watched player in the league, under identical wording, both closed with a fine and neither costing a single match.

Inside the Chester incident

The latest incident bubbled up after Messi appeared to react to contact from Quinn Sullivan during a stoppage-time exchange. It ended with a brief open-handed slap to the back of Sullivan’s neck. Both players finished the game.

The chaotic close in Chester also produced a straight red card for 16-year-old Philadelphia substitute Cavan Sullivan in the 102nd minute, which an independent review panel voted unanimously to overturn on appeal, restoring the teenager’s availability.

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Messi’s own availability was never in doubt. The MLS Disciplinary Committee left him free to continue Inter Miami’s MLS campaign.

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