Lionel Messi in the match against Vissel Kobe/Eugene Hoshiko/AP
2024.02.11 Sun posted at 13:30 JST
Hong Kong (CNN) Two Argentina national soccer matches scheduled in China have been cancelled. In China, there is growing resentment over Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi’s absence from a match between his club Inter Miami and Hong Kong this month.
The Argentina national team was scheduled to play friendly matches next month against Nigeria in Hangzhou, China, and Ivory Coast in Beijing.
However, on the 9th, Hangzhou sports authorities announced on the social networking site WeChat that the match had been canceled for “reasons known to everyone.” He said the decision to cancel the match was made because the time was not ripe for the match to be held.
Following this, on the same day, the Beijing Municipal Football Association also announced the cancellation of matches in the city. Noting that there have been many questions about Messi’s games, Beijing said, “Beijing has no plans to hold any related competitions in which Messi will participate for the time being.”
Messi did not appear on the pitch during a friendly match in Hong Kong on the 4th, leading to boos and calls for a refund from the audience. The player explained that he was forced to miss the match due to an injury, but the criticism only intensified.
Messi played in a friendly match in Japan a few days later, sparking even more outrage, calling it an “insult to China.”
Tatler Asia, which organized the Hong Kong match, announced it would refund half of the ticket price.
2024-02-11 04:30:00
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