Lionel Messi bids farewell to father who guided his career

Lionel Messi has bid farewell to his father, Jorge Messi, who passed away at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer. Jorge Messi was Lionel's emotional anchor and agent since childhood. Lionel Messi arrived in Argentina on a private flight from Miami with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their children.

A private ceremony was held at a cemetery in the town of Perez, adjacent to Rosario. The gates of the cemetery displayed handwritten messages from fans, including "Stay strong, Leo, we love you" and "Stay strong, Messi family", alongside a large floral wreath. Some of Messi's teammates from the Argentine national squad attended the ceremony, including Boca Juniors midfielder Leandro Paredes and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo de Paul.

Lionel Messi and his family left the cemetery after the ceremony under heavy security. The private plane that Messi and his family used to travel to Argentina departed for Miami empty. Messi had missed Inter Miami's 2-1 loss to Monterrey on Saturday following his father's death, and his teammate Rodrigo de Paul paid tribute to him by taking off his shirt after scoring a goal in the match.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Dawn, Free Press Journal, New Straits Times, Punch — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.