Lionel Messi's failure to appear in a much-anticipated match in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday has sparked outrage among fans and government officials alike.

The Argentine superstar, who recently won his second World Cup title, was the star attraction for the match between Inter Miami and a Hong Kong select team. However, he did not even make the bench, leaving many of the 40,000 fans in attendance feeling disappointed.

Organizer to withdraw bid for HK$16 mln government grant

According to the Weibo account of Voice of the Greater Bay Area, a radio and television station under China Central Television, on the 5th, Yang Runxiong, director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and sports commissioner Tak Sum Wong met with the media on the incident. Yang Runxiong said that before the start of the match, the organizer had confirmed that Messi would play in the second half, but the SAR government found that Messi did not appear on the field after the intermission.

The SAR government had coordinated and communicated with the organizer several times, requesting Messi to play. It was not until 10 minutes before the end of the match that the organizer confirmed that Messi could not play due to injury.

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Yang Runxiong said that this was a highly anticipated event, and the SAR government had fully promoted it, providing not only sponsorship but also assistance in various aspects such as venue and crowd control. One of the sponsorship conditions was that Messi had to play at least 45 minutes. He stressed that the event organizer had the responsibility to explain the details of the incident to the public and the fans. The SAR government would also learn from this experience and further improve its work.

According to the latest Weibo post from Voice of the Greater Bay Area, on February 4, Inter Miami played a match with the Hong Kong team at the Hong Kong Stadium. The “King of Football” Messi failed to play, causing dissatisfaction among the fans. The organizer Tatler Asia held a press conference today (5th), and the spokesperson said that they would withdraw a bid for 16 million Hong Kong dollars of government grant.

Inter Miami coach: Messi did not play due to injury

According to Xinhua News Agency on February 4, the Argentine star Messi did not play in the soccer match on the 4th. After the match, Inter Miami coach Martino explained that this was a decision made by the team based on the players’ injuries.

About 40,000 fans poured into the Hong Kong Stadium that day, most of them came for Messi. However, none of the star players of Inter Miami appeared in the starting lineup, only Busquets and Alba came on as substitutes in the 62nd minute. Throughout the match, Messi sat on the bench, without even taking off his jacket. The Uruguayan star Suarez only warmed up on the sidelines.

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Hong Kong had been hyping up the match for a long time, and Messi was undoubtedly the focus of attention. Despite the fans chanting Messi’s name several times that day, they did not get their wish. At the last moment of the match, some fans started to leave early, even shouting “refund”.

At the post-match press conference, Martino did not wait for the reporters to ask questions, but first explained the situation. He said: “I know the fans are very disappointed with the absence of Messi and Suarez, but this was a decision we made together based on their injuries. We also wanted to let them play on the field for at least a while, but we couldn’t take the risk.”

As for Messi’s injury, Martino revealed that the Argentine’s muscles were inflamed, and the situation had lasted for some days. Martino hoped to get the fans’ understanding.

In the team’s last match against Al-Hilal, Messi only came on in the final stage. After arriving in Hong Kong on the 2nd, Martino had said that he would consider Messi’s playing time according to his injury. In the public training on the 3rd, Messi only did circle grabbing and jogging, and did not participate in more intense group confrontation.

When a reporter asked if the team knew in advance that Messi could not play, Martino said that the team had been assessing Messi’s injury, and this decision was made on the morning of the 4th.