Lionel Messi admits football future uncertain after father’s death

Lionel Messi has cast doubt over his football future following the death of his father and longtime agent, Jorge Messi, admitting he is unsure how much longer he can continue playing.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner revealed his uncertainty in an emotional tribute to Jorge, who died aged 68 last week following a long illness.

Jorge had been Messi’s agent since the Argentina captain was 14 and played a central role in guiding his son’s career from his early days in Rosario to global stardom.

Read Also: Lionel Messi loses father Jorge Messi at 68

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” Messi wrote on social media.

“I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.”

The 39-year-old said his father had been beside him throughout his career and expressed regret that they did not have more time together.

“You were by my side from the very beginning. We were so close to the end. Why didn’t you hang in there just a little longer so we could finish this together?” he added.

Messi struggles to imagine life without father

Jorge Messi died in a hospital in Rosario, Argentina, last week. A private funeral was held on Sunday at a cemetery in Perez, on the outskirts of the city.

“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone,” Messi said. “It hasn’t sunk in, or rather, I don’t want it to.”

“It’s so hard for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never talk again. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.”

Jorge was a constant presence throughout Messi’s career, including during his son’s rise at Barcelona and later spells at Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.

Father wanted Messi to play one more World Cup

Messi also revealed that Jorge had encouraged him to participate in another World Cup.

“You kept asking me to play in one last World Cup,” he wrote, recalling how his father’s health deteriorated shortly before the tournament.

Messi said his father had hoped to attend the competition but was unable to travel because of his worsening condition.

“It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be well enough to travel,” Messi wrote.

“I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could come along.”

Messi said he regularly waited for messages from his father after Argentina’s matches before realising how serious his condition had become.