Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber refused to be drawn on whether the league planned to sanction Lionel Messi after the Inter Miami and Argentina superstar was a late withdrawal from Wednesdays All-Star game.
Messi and Miami teammate Jordi Alba had both been due to start in Wednesdays showpiece in Austin, where a combined MLS XI defeated a team representing Mexicos Liga-MX 3-1.
However news broke early Wednesday that Miami had informed MLS neither player would feature in the game, for reasons that were not immediately clear.
The 11th-hour snub has left Messi and Alba facing a one-game suspension from MLS. Under league rules, players selected for the All-Star game must participate unless they have a valid reason such as an injury not to do so.
Garber however was tightlipped on a possible sanction for Messi following his controversial no-show, declining to say if the league would go ahead and issue a ban against its biggest star, who could now miss Miamis game against FC Cincinnati this weekend.