By 
Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians, and certain fans promptly criticized Argentine player Lionel Messi for partaking in a match in Japan on Wednesday, having remained on the bench just days prior in a highly anticipated game in Hong Kong.
In the financial hub, disappointment spread on Sunday as the 36-year-old did not make an appearance during a heavily promoted Inter Miami match, leaving fans demanding explanations and refunds.
Miami head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said Messi was deemed unfit to play in Sunday’s friendly in Hong Kong, but he came on as a 60th minute substitute against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday.
China’s state-controlled Global Times said Messi’s absence posed many questions on the differential treatment 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.”
Mainland fans, including some who traveled for 12 hours from Xinjiang to Hong Kong specifically to see Messi, were left disappointed, as reported by the Global Times.
The government and fans expressed understandable dismay, with the incident’s repercussions extending beyond the sporting arena. Messi issued an apology to his Chinese fans on Weibo, a platform similar to X, just before Wednesday’s game, citing injury as the reason for his inability to play in Hong Kong.
“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.
In Hong Kong, the match attracted 40,000 fans, with attendees paying nearly HK$5,000 ($640) per ticket. Conversely, in Tokyo, large sections of seating at the Japan National Stadium were vacant, with only 28,614 tickets sold.
Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said in a statement that, like the fans, it was very disappointed that Messi could not play in Hong Kong due to injury.
“However three days later, Messi was able to play actively and freely in Japan … the government hopes the organisers and teams can provide reasonable explanations.”
Sports lawmaker Kenneth Fok said the incident “sprinkled salt wounds” on Hong Kong fans, while senior government advisor Regina Ip wrote on X that “Hong Kong people hate Messi, Inter-Miami and the black hand behind them, for the deliberate and calculate snub to Hong Kong.”
Scott Wong, a 26-year-old cadet pilot, said that if Messi comes back to play in Hong Kong he would think twice before getting tickets, in case he is injured again. “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.”
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