Inter Miami officially unveiled Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi as their player on Sunday. But his move to the MLS now has created a major dilemma as he is reluctant to play on artificial turf. While Inter Miami’s temporary home has a grass surface, teams like Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, Atlanta United, New England Revolution, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Charlotte FC have artificial turf.

Inter Miami will play away matches in Atlanta and Charlotte later in the current MLS season. Atlanta United and Charlotte FC, have consistently boasted the highest attendance figures in MLS. If Messi chooses not to play on these surfaces, it could result in a significant commercial blow for the franchises. As the high demand for tickets may diminish if the football star sits out due to the turf issue.

Atlanta United won’t change their turf for Messi

In an interview with Atlanta United  President and CEO Garth Lagerwey ahead of the MLS All-Star game in Washington, D.C. He expressed his opinion about his team’s pitch, saying “You can ask [Martino], he is familiar with the quality of our turf,” “He can explain to his players how good and safe it is to play at our stadium.” He also highlighted that their playing surface has attained the highest FIFA certification, FIFA Pro.

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Previously other soccer superstars like David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have also expressed reluctance to play on artificial turf because they are injury-prone. But the league has not made significant changes to accommodate them.

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MLS Commissioner comments on the artificial turf issue

Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, mentioned that MLS clubs might consider installing temporary grass on top of the artificial surfaces. He said “My expectations are that that’s what they will do, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to figure all of that out. MLS promotes a lot of international games, and we have been able to bring natural grass into those stadiums [for those games], but we’ve never done that for a regular-season game.”

Messi could potentially play on these artificial surfaces during away trips to Atlanta and Charlotte in the MLS Eastern Conference. With the growing ambition to attract big-name players, the MLS may eventually have to adapt to meet the demands of stars like Messi.

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