SUMMARY
- Messi's side Inter Miami faced Hong XI on 4 February.
- Fans were outraged as Messi didn't play during the match, demanding a refund for the match.
Lionel Messi has finally cleared the air after the uproar caused by his absence during Inter Miami’s Hong Kong clash. Messi’s Inter Miami recently concluded their series of pre-season friendlies, playing against the likes of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Newell’s Old Boys, and so on. However, in what was a huge disappointment for the fans, Messi skipped Inter Miami’s friendly against Hong Kong.
Lionel Messi reportedly suffered a knock to his hamstring and adductor during Inter Miami’s 4-3 defeat against Al-Hilal. As a precaution, Messi sat out for the majority part of Inter Miami’s embarrassing 6-0 defeat against Al-Nassr and only came on in the 84th minute. While Messi did take part in a public training session in Hong Kong, he decided to skip the friendly match.
However, Messi’s absence came as a huge disappointment for the fans, who had bought expensive tickets to watch the 2022 World Cup winner in action. Besides Messi, his Inter Miami and former FC Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez also remained on the bench. This led to a massive uproar from the fans, who booed and whistled during the game and even demanded a refund.
INTER MIAMI BOOED OFF THE FIELD IN CHINA 😡
The mood in Hong Kong turned sour after Messi didn’t play in the #InterMiamiCF friendly. 40,000 fans chanted “Refund refund refund” and “Where is Messi?” (who sat on the bench). Beckham also booed post-match.pic.twitter.com/gjnbEfSRUr
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) February 4, 2024
Moreover, the Chinese state media and some politicians too expressed their disappointment. The Hong Kong government also released a statement expressing its dejection at Messi’s absence, which led to the organizers announcing a 50% refund on tickets. Lastly, the Chinese authorities have canceled Argentina’s upcoming friendly matches against Ivory Coast and Nigeria in March 2024.
Lionel Messi issues an apology after missing out on the Hong Kong match
After nearly two weeks, Lionel Messi has set the record straight on why he missed the match against Hong Kong. In a video posted on Weibo, Messi explained why he decided to not play against Hong Kong. He said that there have been several false stories circulating about why he didn’t play and he wanted to reveal the real reason.
The Argentine skipper reassured that his absence was not due to any political reasons. Messi reiterated that the only reason he decided to skip the match was because of an inflammation in his adductor. He admitted that while he tried to play against Al-Nassr with the knock, he only made it worse. However, Messi admitted that he also tried to make the fans happy by participating in the public training session.
🚨 Lionel Messi’s explanation to Chinese people on his absence in the friendly game 🇨🇳
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) February 19, 2024
Lastly, the 36-year-old said, “Since the start of my career I’ve had a very close and special relationship with China.” He has previously traveled to China to play for both FC Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Nevertheless, Messi concluded his video message by explaining that the only reason he played in Japan a few days after the Hong Kong clash was that he felt a bit better and that he wanted to prepare for the upcoming season.
Argentina forced to cancel China tour after Lionel Messi’s absence against Hong Kong
Meanwhile, Argentina had to suffer a major disappointment after the Chinese authorities decided to cancel the former’s international friendly matches. Argentina was set to play against Ivory Coast and Nigeria in Hangzhou and Beijing respectively. The Beijing FA issued a statement saying, “Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate.”
(🌕) JUST IN: There is a verbal agreement to keep the opponents as Nigeria and Ivory Coast for the March friendly games. There are 4 possible venues: United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India – to be defined before the weekend. @leoparadizo 🚨🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/f9M8zJKPz2
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) February 14, 2024
As a result, the Argentina FA has been forced to reschedule the matches. While their opponents, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, remain the same, the location for the friendly matches has been changed. Currently, it is expected that Lionel Messi and Argentina will play against Ivory Coast and Nigeria in the United States. However, the Argentina FA has yet to confirm the final location for its friendly matches.