Jorge Messi, the father and agent of Argentina soccer captain Lionel Messi, passed away Saturday at 68.

He died at a hospital in the central Argentina city of Rosario, the Associated Press.

The Rosario-based Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys said he was “the pillar and the person who, with vision, rigor and affection, supported the career of the best player of all time, alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini.”