The mothers of Major League Soccer players “file complaint against Leo Messi.”

Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi recently moved stateside, joining Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF team in Florida.

But some social media users who are earnestly reading posts about the mothers of other professional players complaining that Messi’s too good to play against their sons are missing the joke. 

“MLS players’ mothers file complaint against Leo Messi!” one Facebook post said. “Jack McGlynn’s mother (Philadelphia player): ‘It’s not fair, since Messi joined Inter Miami. Everyone can’t stop him, and he’s so much better than our kids that they start to feel bad about themselves.’”

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

This story originated on The Onion, a satire site. 

“MLS parents complain Leo Messi too advanced for son’s league,” read its Aug. 18 headline.

Messi has boosted the profile of Inter Miami CF, which was last in the league during the regular season before it signed Messi and then won a tournament final after he joined the team. 

During a recent news conference, a reporter “asked about the ease with which Messi and Inter Miami have defeated their M.L.S. and Liga MX opponents in the tournament,” The New York Times said, referring to a Mexican soccer division, “hinting at the inferior level of competition he now faces compared with Europe.” 

But rumors about other players’ mothers filing a complaint about Messi aren’t true. 

We rate claims that this story is authentic False.