Lionel Messi in Hong Kong: experts divided over whether Argentinian’s injury was serious enough to stop him playing
- Sports injury specialist at an English Premier League club says nothing strange over Inter Miami star missing Hong Kong game
- But leading health academic says severity should not have stopped Inter Miami star playing.
A leading sports injury specialist has said there was nothing strange about Lionel Messi being able to play in Japan just 72 hours after injury ruled him out of an exhibition game in Hong Kong.
But a leading academic in the city said the inflammation the Argentinian experienced appeared to be a minor problem, and questioned whether it would have been bad enough to prevent him playing any part in the match last weekend.
Messi’s absence, because of what his club, Inter Miami, said was an injury effecting the thigh and groin, had fans in the city crying foul and demanding refunds.
And club officials left the door open for the fevered speculation by naming Messi on the substitutes bench for the match against a Hong Kong XI, and not addressing the severity of the problem, which first occurred during the preseason friendly against Al Hilal on January 29.
In a pre-match press conference on February 2, Miami coach Gerardo Martino even assured Hong Kong fans that the 36-year-old they all bought tickets to see would “play as much as possible”, and did not hint at any problems.
A medical official with one English Premier League club, who asked not to be named because of his position, said it was always difficult to have an opinion with “assessing someone and speaking with them”.
“However, it is certainly possible to miss training or a game due to oedema or inflammation within a muscle,” they said. “Especially if it’s in season and the demands of a competitive game could aggravate it.
“The fact he played three days later indicates it was a minor issue, however that doesn’t mean entirely he could and should have played prior to that.”
A grade one adductor injury can take up to two weeks to heal, while more serious conditions need between six weeks and four months to recover from, he said.
Between the Al Hilal game and the seven minutes Messi played against Al Nassr the day before flying to Hong Kong, Miami sent the World Cup winner for an MRI, but did not release the results of the scan.
03:36
‘Bad luck’: Messi says having to sit out Hong Kong friendly was ‘unfortunate’
Dr Lobo Louie Hung-tak, associate head of the department of health and physical education at Education University, said he doubted the inflammation would have stopped Messi playing if he wanted to.
While acknowledging that only the athlete themselves would know the level of pain they were experiencing, Messi’s quick recovery “certainly ruled out” a tier two or three injury.
Louie also questioned the lack of communication surrounding Messi’s status, with everyone, barring the club, unaware he would not play at Hong Kong Stadium until the game was almost over.
“The head coach only said it’s inflammation, which is a rather general term, without specifying which muscle group, and to what extent was the inflammation,” Louie said.
“I’d say such reasoning seems inappropriate because Premier League teams always release injury reports about their players, listing their injury and expected recovery time as soon as tests are completed.
“For mild, undetectable injuries, or muscle stiffness, only the player himself will know, it’s about his core value and ethical value, it’s not for us to comment really.”
03:03
Lionel Messi plays in Japan 3 days after sitting out Hong Kong game, adding fuel to fans’ anger
In apologising for missing the game, Messi said it was “bad luck” that the recovery period coincided with an occasion 40,000 fans had bought tickets to see, while Miami felt “compelled to reiterate the reality of these types of sports injuries”.
“We do feel it necessary to express that injuries are unfortunately a part of the beautiful game, and our player’s health must always come first,” the club said in a lengthy statement.
Inter Miami begin their Major League Soccer season on February 21 against Real Salt Lake, and the game in Japan was the team’s fourth game in 10 days. They have one more against Messi’s old club, Newell’s, on February 16.
“As someone who’s been on trips like that, the risk of making an issue worse must always be minimised. Especially in a player of that importance to the club,” the Premier League employee club said. “Although I can see how that would be a frustrating one for the commercial side.”
