Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians, and quite a few followers swiftly criticized Argentine participant Lionel Messi for his involvement in a match in Japan on Wednesday, particularly after his latest benching in a extremely anticipated recreation in Hong Kong.
Many within the monetary hub expressed dismay on Sunday when the 36-year-old didn’t take to the sphere throughout an eagerly awaited Inter Miami match, which drew a sell-out crowd. Fans demanded explanations and even sought refunds.
Miami head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino acknowledged that Messi was deemed unfit to play in Sunday’s pleasant in Hong Kong. However, he did make an look as an alternative within the sixtieth minute in opposition to Vissel Kobe on Wednesday.
China’s state-controlled Global Times mentioned Messi’s absence posed many questions on the differential remedy for Hong Kong.
“The match in Hong Kong became the only one in Messi’s six pre-season friendly matches on this trip where he was absent. The situation … has magnified these doubts and suspicions on the integrity of Inter Miami and Messi himself.”
Some mainland followers traveled 12 hours from Xinjiang to Hong Kong to see Messi, the Global Times wrote, with the frustration of the federal government and followers “entirely understandable. The impact of this incident has far exceeded the realm of sports.”
Messi apologized to his Chinese followers on Weibo, a Chinese platform much like X, simply forward of the sport on Wednesday, saying it was an actual disgrace he was not in a position to play in Hong Kong resulting from an damage.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I always want to play… especially in these games where we travel so far and people are excited to see our games. Hopefully, we can come back and play a game in Hong Kong,” he wrote in Chinese and Spanish.
The match in Hong Kong drew 40,000 followers, with spectators paying as much as almost HK$5,000 ($640) per ticket. In Tokyo, whole blocks of seating on the Japan National Stadium remained unoccupied, with simply 28,614 tickets offered.
Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau mentioned in an announcement that, just like the followers, it was very dissatisfied that Messi couldn’t play in Hong Kong resulting from damage.
“However three days later, Messi was able to play actively and freely in Japan… the government hopes the organizers and teams can provide reasonable explanations.”
Sports lawmaker Kenneth Fok mentioned the incident “sprinkled salt wounds” on Hong Kong followers, whereas senior authorities advisor Regina Ip wrote on X that “Hong Kong people hate Messi, Inter Miami, and the black hand behind them, for the deliberate and calculated snub to Hong Kong.”
Scott Wong, a 26-year-old cadet pilot, mentioned that if Messi comes again to play in Hong Kong he would suppose twice earlier than getting tickets, in case he’s injured once more.
“All the backlash Inter Miami got, plus Messi, I think he feels like he needs to make up for it. That’s why he promised to come back and play the game again.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com