Lionel Messi is being sued by a Miami-based event promoter who says the soccer icon violated terms of a $7 million contract by missing an exhibition match last year.
Vid Music Group filed the lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract against Messi and the Argentine Football Association in Miami-Dade circuit court last month, according to court records.
Messi and the AFA didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Considered one of the greatest soccer players ever, Messi appears with both his Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and Argentina’s national team, and fans routinely pay much higher prices for the chance to see him play.
According to the lawsuit, Vid signed a deal with the AFA last summer for exclusive rights to organize and promote Argentina’s friendlies last October against Venezuela and Puerto Rico in exchange for ticket, broadcast and sponsorship revenue. Vid claims that Messi was supposed to play for at least 30 minutes in each match, unless he was injured.
The 38-year-old Messi watched Argentina’s 1-0 win against Venezuela on Oct. 10 from a suite at South Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium, according to the lawsuit.
The next day, Messi scored two goals in Inter Miami’s 4-0 MLS win over Atlanta. That match was important to Inter Miami, since it gave them home-field advantage for Round 1 of the playoffs.
Then, on Oct. 14, Messi played in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Puerto Rico. That game was originally supposed to take place in Chicago, but low ticket sales in the city where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were making more than 1,000 arrests led organizers to move the game to Florida. AFA blamed the immigration crackdowns when the smaller venue in Fort Lauderdale didn’t sell out, even after ticket prices were reduced to $25 each.
Vid hasn’t specified damages they’re seeking in the lawsuit, but they claim they lost millions between Messi failing to appear in one game and low ticket sales at the other. (JapanToday)
Prosecutors are seeking Tiger Woods’ prescription drug records from a pharmacy, a week after his vehicle crashed in Florida and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Prosecutors in Florida on Tuesday said they planned to issue a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, FUnited lorida.
Prosecutors in Martin County, Florida, want the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them, according to documents in an online court docket.
Neither Lewis Pharmacy nor Woods’ attorney, Doug Duncan, immediately responded to an emails seeking comment.
Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week, hours after a sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a trailer and rolled over on its side.
Woods said last week that he is stepping away to seek treatment.
It’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, after his SUV plowed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando, he took a leave of absence to work on being a better person. That lasted four months and he returned at the Masters.
He also was in a 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputati(JapanToday)
Tiger Woods was arrested Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence after his Land Rover traveling at “high speed” on a residential road clipped a truck and rolled onto its side.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was able to crawl out of passenger side and was not injured.
“He did exemplify signs of an impairment,” Budensiek said, adding that investigators believe he had taken “some type of medication or drug.” He said Woods agreed to a breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but refused a urine test and was arrested.
Under Florida law, he would have to spend eight hours in jail before he could post bail.
Budensiek said the sheriff’s office will follow the law regardless of who has been accused of a crime. He said Woods was being held in jail but separate from others.
“He’s not going to be with other inmates that could hurt him or try to capitalize on what he did,” he said. “He’ll pay the price, but he’s not going to pay the price by getting punished in jail.”
It was the second time Woods has been arrested for a DUI not as a result of the influence of alcohol. He said he took a bad mix of painkillers when authorities found him in 2017 asleep behind the wheel of his car, the engine still running and its driver’s side damaged. Woods pleaded guilty then to reckless driving.
President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law is dating Tiger Woods, was asked about the golfer when he landed in Miami on Friday afternoon for an investment summit.
“I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty,” Trump said. “Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”
The crash occurred just before 2 p.m. not far from where Woods lives on Jupiter Island.
Budensiek said Woods attempted to pass a pressure cleaner truck while driving on a two-lane road with a 30 mph (48 kph) speed limit. He said authorities could not determine how fast Woods was going.
The Land Rover swerved to avoid a collision as he was passing the truck but clipped the back end of the truck’s trailer, Budensiek said. Woods’ car then rolled onto its driver’s side.
The sheriff said Woods was “cooperative, but he’s not trying to incriminate himself.” He said Woods has the right to refuse the urine test and that authorities “will never get definitive results with what he was impaired on.”
Woods’ manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
This was the fourth time Woods has been involved in a car crash, most recently in February 2021 when his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at a high rate of speed, leading to multiple leg and ankle injuries. Woods said later doctors considered amputation. He also previously sustained multiple injuries to his left knee and his back during his golf career.
Woods returned from multiple back surgeries to win the 2019 Masters for his 15th major. His 82 titles on the PGA Tour is tied for the career record with Sam Snead. Since that LA crash, he has played 11 tournaments without being closer than 16 shots to the winner the four times he was able to finish 72 holes.
Friday’s arrest comes as Woods was trying to decide if he was fit enough to play the Masters, which starts April 9. He also was to be in Augusta, Georgia, on April 5 to unveil a golf course project with Masters chairman Fred Ridley.
Woods also was days away from what was described as a “soft deadline” to decide whether to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland.
Woods, 50, had been working his way back to golf from a seventh back surgery in September.
His last official tournament was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025 and that kept him off the course all season even before the back surgery. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday night.
He has remained deeply involved in PGA Tour affairs as chair of the Future Competition Committee that is restructuring the model of the tour. (JapanToday)
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