The Argentine tactician—who once played alongside Messi at Barcelona—expressed his disappointment during the post-match press conference at Chase Stadium, hinting at what he sees as double standards in the league’s decision-making.

According to reports, MLS commissioner announced the suspension just 24 hours before kickoff. And omo, Mascherano wasn’t having it.

“I don’t like to speak about other people’s decisions, but it’s strange when something is said one day and the opposite happens the next,” Mascherano said, clearly agitated.

He further noted how Messi’s presence is usually welcomed when it comes to selling out stadiums and boosting ticket sales, but when Inter Miami had a home game? Boom—suspension.

“Messi has played an enormous number of matches. When it’s about selling tickets or filling stadiums, no one complains. But now that we had a home game, he’s suspended? Would they have done the same if we were playing away? It’s frustrating,” he added.

Omo this is painful, especially for fans who turned up just to watch the GOAT.

Meanwhile, it’s been claimed that Messi and Jordi Alba snubbed the MLS All-Star game last week even though they were listed in the squad. The duo was later hit with a one-game suspension—reportedly in line with league rules.

But people are now asking: was it really about the rules or something deeper? Hmm, wahala be like MLS suspension policy.

According to reports, the Inter Miami stars were selected to participate in this week’s MLS All-Star Game but allegedly failed to show up for any of the scheduled events.

They missed the All-Star Skills Challenge on Tuesday, and were also absent at the main clash between MLS and Liga MX All-Stars on Wednesday.

Omo, rules no dey look face!

MLS rules reportedly state that any player who skips All-Star duties without official clearance will be suspended — and that’s exactly what happened here. The league confirmed on Friday that both Messi and Alba will serve a one-game ban, meaning they’re unavailable for Inter Miami’s match against FC Cincinnati this Saturday.

But e no end there o.

Inter Miami’s managing owner, Jorge Mas, don vex. He revealed that Messi is “extremely upset” with the ruling.

“I don’t agree with the rule,” Mas said. “I’ve made my thoughts known to the commissioner very plainly.”

As expected, fans are divided — some say the rules are rules, while others think Messi and Alba deserved some leeway due to their recent playing schedule.

But omo, whether fair or not, Messi go miss game — and that’s the gist!