Lionel Messi ‘doesn’t care about Hong Kong’ and Xinjiang fan’s 12-hour trek – Chinese social media blasts Inter Miami fiasco
- Fingers are pointed at the US club and Messi himself over his no-show in a match in Hong Kong that fans had paid exorbitant sums to see
- Xinjiang man feels ‘cheated’ after travelling over 5,000km to see Messi, while online poll is held as blame game begins
Furious football fans on Monday vented their anger at Lionel Messi’s no-show at an exhibition game in Hong Kong, with some saying he disrespected the city, while others shared stories of 12-hour flights and thousands of dollars down the drain.
On Sunday, to audible dismay at Hong Kong Stadium, Messi, regarded as one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game, sat on the substitutes’ bench for 90 minutes and watched his Inter Miami teammates beat a side representing the hosts 4-1.
Fans had already seen the Miami squad walk away early from a welcoming ceremony on Friday, followed by Messi stretching at an open training session on Saturday that was also cut short and featured little involvement from the Argentine World Cup winner.
A video that went viral on X, formerly Twitter, showed a fan kicking Messi’s head clean off a cardboard cut-out inside the stadium after the match, as a group of spectators behind him cheered.
Many people commented on the video, saying they understood the fan’s anger and would feel the same had they paid thousands of dollars for a ticket.
On Chinese messaging platform WeChat, a widely circulated video showed Messi stepping out of the line of Miami players queuing to receive medals and shake hands with the city’s leader, John Lee Ka-chiu. Messi stayed at the back and dodged the formalities.
“This is the football king we all yearn for. Unfortunately, in his eyes, we are not even as good as ants,” one person wrote.
“He is just looking down on you, he doesn’t care about this city, he doesn’t care about you,” another user commented.
One disappointed mainland Chinese fan went viral on Weibo after he revealed that he had travelled for 12 hours from Xinjiang, in China’s far west, to watch his idol play.
“Did anyone even see him on the pitch for even a second?” he said. “I spent so much money and flew over 5,000km just to see him. I feel cheated.
“Messi’s trip this time is really not as good as Cristiano Ronaldo’s trip to Shenzhen. At least he was really injured and refunded tickets … and also sincerely apologised.”
Ronaldo’s injury days earlier had prompted Al Nassr, his Saudi club, to cancel their two friendly matches in Shenzhen, the first of which was only a day away.
On Monday, Hong Kong lawmaker Kenneth Fok Kai-kong’s demand that Messi and Inter Miami should apologise was the fifth-highest trending topic on Weibo – the mainland’s X-like platform – with over 430 million views.
Another hashtag that highlighted Messi not addressing the crowd following the game was also viewed more than 220 million times.
A poll on Weibo asked who people thought was to blame for the debacle.
Of the nearly 16,000 who had voted, about 39 per cent said Messi himself had to take some of the responsibility. Twenty-eight per cent said Inter Miami were the main culprits, while 23 per cent said it was the organiser Tatler Asia’s fault.
There were some who sympathised with Messi, saying it was unfair for Inter Miami to arrange so many games in such a short space of time on their preseason tour. Their match in Hong Kong was their third in six days.
Others said that such mishaps should have been expected.
“If you buy tickets for a team sport just to see one person, you should not be disappointed if he can’t play,” one person commented.
