On the evening of February 10, the Hangzhou Municipal Sports Bureau's WeChat *** Hangzhou Sports" issued a statement saying that in view of the well-known reasons, the conditions for the Argentine football team to come to Hangzhou in March this year for a friendly match are not ripe, and it has been decided to cancel the event.
Hangzhou Sports "WeChat*** screenshot.
The statement said: "As a commercial event, a company negotiated with the Argentine football team in the early stage to come to Hangzhou for a friendly match in March this year. In view of the well-known reasons, it has been learned from the competent authorities that the conditions for holding the event are not ripe, and it has been decided to cancel the event. ”
In June last year, Argentina played a friendly match with Australia at the "New Workers' Stadium" in Beijing. It was the first time Argentina had played abroad since winning the World Cup. In the end, Argentina won 2:0. Messi scored a goal in just 81 seconds after the opening game, which was the fastest goal of Messi's career, according to statistics.
During that trip to China, Messi's every move received great attention. The fans surrounded the hotel where the Argentine team was staying, and the enthusiasm stunned the reporters from Argentina. Even on the night of the match, a fan jumped from the stands and rushed into the pitch to hug Messi, then ran around the pitch and was eventually taken away by the staff.
At the end of January this year, the Argentine Football Federation announced that the Argentine national team would start its trip to China in March, playing against Nigeria and Ivory Coast respectively. Among them, the match against Nigeria will be played at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, and the match against the Ivory Coast team will be played at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.
The picture shows Messi after the exhibition match taken by China News Service reporter Hou Yu.
However, those plans took a turn for the worse this month. Messi arrived in Hong Kong on February 2 with Inter Miami to participate in an exhibition match with the Hong Kong Stars on February 4.
However, on the night of the game, Messi did not play in the end, and later explained that the reason was a swollen and painful groin injury. Many fans who came specifically for Messi were extremely disappointed and extremely dissatisfied with the attitude of Inter Miami and Messi towards this matter.
On the evening of the 7th, an exhibition match between Miami International and Kobe Victory was held in Tokyo, and Messi not only came off the bench, but also performed actively. The match with the Hong Kong Stars on the evening of the 4th also became the only game in which Messi was absent from the list of the six exhibition matches of the Miami International team's trip.
Tatler Asia, the organizer of the exhibition match between the Miami International Team and the Hong Kong Star Team, issued a statement on the 9th, saying that it will not evade its responsibilities as the organizer of the event, and Tatler Asia will provide a 50% refund to the public who purchased tickets through official channels. Details of the refund arrangement will be notified before mid-March. Tatler Asia would like to apologize to the fans who were disappointed with the match.
On the evening of the 7th, Beijing time, the Miami International team and the Kobe Victory Ship team played an exhibition match in Tokyo, Japan, and Messi, who attracted much attention, came on as a substitute in the 60th minute of the second half.
Event recap. On December 15 last year, tickets for the Miami International Team Hong Kong Exhibition Match sold out within one hour of ticket opening.
On February 2, 2024, Messi and Inter Miami arrived in Hong Kong, and the players left the stadium before the welcome ceremony was over.
On February 4, the organizers' match list showed Messi as a substitute. One minute before the opening, Messi did not appear in the list of matches released by Inter Miami and did not appear in the end.
On February 5, Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region **, revealed that 10 minutes before the end of the game, the organizers confirmed that Messi could not play, and the SAR ** immediately took a series of remedial actions, such as telling the organizers whether Messi could be asked to personally explain to the fans and accept the award on behalf of the team, but none of them were done.
On February 6, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region** will urge the organizers to actively respond to the demands of fans who buy tickets and give a detailed account of the incident.
On February 6, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Fok Qigang said that Messi's past achievements in the football world are undoubted and worthy of our respect, but the way this game was handled, he believes that Hong Kong fans did not feel respected.
On February 6, Messi attended the press conference alone in Tokyo. He revealed that he felt discomfort in his adductor muscles during the first match in Saudi Arabia, and although the MRI showed that it was not an injury, he still felt discomfort. "A lot of people in Hong Kong come here and I want to play and it's a shame that something like this happens in football. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to compete in Hong Kong in the future. ”
On February 7, 3 minutes before the start of the Miami International Team's Japan exhibition match, Messi's Weibo account posted, "Because of a groin injury, I couldn't play the friendly match in Hong Kong, and my injury was swollen and painful. Friends who know me know that I want to give my all in every game, especially when I'm travelling so far with my team-mates and the fans are looking forward to seeing us fit fit. ”