Argentine football icon Lionel Messi was contracted to play for at least 45 minutes on Sunday, Hong Kong’s sports minister, who attended the friendly, told the press on Monday. However, the 36-year-old world-cup winning captain was benched over a hamstring injury, prompting boos and calls for refunds from fans.
On Sunday, the government expressed “disappointment” after warning that it may reclaim HK$16 million of funding awarded to the pre-season friendly event featuring the footballer, who last played in the city in 2014.
The Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday was filled with more than 38,000 local football fans and tourists, who had bought tickets priced up to HK$4,880 to see their hero. But jeers and cursing were heard from the stands towards the end of the match as Messi sat out the 4-1 win.
“The Government, as well as all football fans, are extremely disappointed that Messi could neither play in the friendly match, nor explain to the fans in-person upon request,” a late-night statement from the government read.
The way the event organiser Tatler XFEST Hong Kong and Inter Miami handled the situation “could not meet the expectations of fans,” especially those who came all the way to the city for the match, the government said.
The match, which was labelled as an “M” mark major international sporting event, was granted HK$15 million as a matching grant, and HK$1 million as a grant for the venue. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Major Sports Events Committee would ask the organiser to take responsibility, the government said.
Organiser was urged to ‘explore other remedies’
On Monday, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung told reporters that “one of the key terms of our funding agreement with Tatler Asia was for Messi to participate in the match for at least 45 minutes, subject to fitness and safety considerations.”
“Yesterday before the match began, the organiser Tatler Asia still reaffirmed that Messi was going to play in the second half. When the second half began without Messi, we immediately followed up with the organiser Tatler Asia, requesting them to liaise with Inter Miami to arrange Messi to play as soon as possible, but was later informed by Tatler Asia that Messi could not play due to injury.”
Yeung said the government reiterated its request for Messi to play in the match about 10 minutes before the match ended. But the organiser once again confirmed that the Argentine player could not participate.
The government then requested the organiser to “explore other remedies,” Yeung said, including having Messi appear on the pitch to interact with fans and receive the trophy. But these requests “did not work out,” the official said.
“We will take into account the experience of this incident, and will further work with the Major Sports Events Committee to further improve our ‘M’ mark system.“
The government “have not paid any money yet” for the agreed sponsorship, Yeung said, and the authorities would liaise with the organiser in the coming weeks to evaluate the performance of the event and decide on what to do with the funding.
The minister did not give a direct response when he was asked if the government felt it had been “scammed.” He later said it would be difficult to know in advance whether a player could play due to an injury, unless the injury was very serious.
‘Extreme disappointment’
Around half an hour before Sunday’s second government statement, Tatler XFEST Hong Kong expressed “extreme disappointment” over the non-participation of Messi and another star player Luis Suárez in the match. The organisers said they had no information prior the match that both players would be benched.
“We, alongside all football fans who attended that match, had been eagerly anticipating Messi’s and Suárez’s participation and share in the disappointment felt by everyone watching,” the statement read.
They added: “Messi and Suárez were deemed unfit to play by their team’s medical department, to everyone’s, including ours, disappointment.”
Local media reported on Sunday citing sources that the Inter Miami team was originally invited to visit the Kai Tak Sports Park on Monday. However, according to Yeung, the team would leave the city on Monday afternoon.
On Monday, Inter Miami promoted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the next stop of their international tour, where the team is set to play against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday. Some people left comments urging the club to inform fans in advance if Messi was not going to take part.
“Announce Messi’s injury report as soon as possible. He is injured and you just want to use him his name to make money,” one X user commented.
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