Messi’s Messy Visit to Hong Kong
Messi and Inter Miami’s trip to Hong Kong has been a PR disaster, and here is what happened. On January 19, Inter Miami began its 6-game preseason tour. The football club is set to play in South America, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Since all preseason games are friendly matches, most fans purchased tickets just to see the football legend in the club, Lionel Messi.
After winning the World Cup in 2022 and transferring from Saint Paris Germain F.C. to Inter Miami, Lionel Messi has been in the spotlight for football fans. Due to Major League Soccer (MLS)’s unique schedule, Messi now has more opportunities to engage in business events, such as the preseason tour. When Inter Miami announced that the team would play in Hong Kong, 40,000 tickets quickly sold out.
On January 4, the entire stadium waited for 90 minutes to see Messi play on the pitch, however, Lionel Messi, along with his former teammates in Barcelona Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, stayed on the bench for the entire game. This was completely unexpected as the event organizer, Tatler Asia, claimed that they had reached an agreement with Inter Miami before the tickets even went on sale that Messi would play for at least 45 minutes.
After the game ended, realizing they would not get a chance to Messi on the pitch, fans began to boo Messi and angrily demand an explanation and a refund. In hindsight, this was clearly the sign of the beginning of a PR crisis. However, perhaps not realizing the severity of the issue, Messi did not hold a personal or attend the team’s post-game press conference. He was captured looking upset and refused to receive the award from the Chief Executive of Hong Kong during the closing ceremony.
On January 5, a Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Huo Qigang, posted a long article on social media, attacking Messi as being “completely irresponsible”. Being a part of the team responsible for the event, Huo claimed in the article that “The Hong Kong region prepared for this event with the high standards of "receiving other countries' heads of state," but in return, the player (Messi) left before the ceremony had even ended.” (Originally in Chinese, translated by me)
Huo’s post ignited the discussion about Messi’s absence in the game. On the same day, among the 50 top search results on a Chinese social media called Weibo, 31 are related to Messi and Inter Miami, aggregating a total of 110 million views.
Despite the heated debate online, Messi did not make a formal announcement or explain the situation until before his match in Japan on Feb. 7. An announcement was posted on Weibo, explaining that Messi had a groin strain and was unable to play despite wanting to go on the pitch. The announcement at first was received well by the audience initially. However, two hours after the announcement, Messi was subbed on for the game in Japan and played for more than 30 minutes with no clear sign of injury.
This infuriated the Chinese fans. Japan has a complex history with China. The majority of football fans in China are middle-aged males whose grandparents likely fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War. As a result, they have a rather strong negative sentiment towards Japan. To these fans, Messi claiming to be injured and refusing to play yet played in a country they fought a war against three days later is the worst thing that could happen.
Messi’s latest Instagram post is flooded with comments from angry Chinese fans
The controversy surrounding Lionel Messi's absence from playing time with Inter Miami quickly escalated, moving the conversation beyond mere sportsmanship to touch on political sensitivities. Right after Messi’s appearance in Japan, the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission in China announced that the two friendly matches with the Argentina National Team, originally scheduled in March and May, were both canceled. A detail worth noting is that in the official announcement, the matches were said to be canceled for “obvious reasons”. It is made very clear that the Chinese government will not welcome the Argentinian star back, at least not in the near future.
I am not too familiar with how the game works, but I wonder if Messi staying on bench had another reason behind it. What if Messi had injured himself, but did not want to say anything? Or what if something in his personal life happened for him to affect him like that? Since this is something that does not often happen to him, I feel as though there was another reason that may have caused him to sit at the bench. I see this happening to a lot of celebrities where fans online often forget that the celebrity they see is also a human being too who needs rest and may face bad days as well.
Still, I guess the…
The communication on behalf of Messi's PR team seems to have been very unprofessional and many fans were clearly led on, under the expectation that they would be able to see him play. Therefore, I would agree that is definitely a problem with which fans are justified in taking issue with.
That said, I think the most overlooked and significant part of this story is the fact that it was a meaningless, inconsequential, pre-season game. Granted, this must have been gravely disappointing for many of Messi's fans in China, but the health of his body is far more important than the satisfaction of his fans at a single exhibition game. It is also worth noting that Messi had been dealing…
Your post raises a critical question: How can international sports figures navigate the complex intersections of fan expectations, cultural diplomacy, and personal health without alienating the very communities that hold them in high regard? Celebrityhood for Lionel Messi goes beyond kicking a ball on grass—it is a field of public perception and international relations where his moves are scrutinized and his absence felt deeply. While I understand and relate to the Chinese fans’ anger and demands for refunds, their interpretation of Messi playing in Japan as disrespect is way too farfetched. What a drama queen the internet is.
When looking at the situation, it is hard to reason with either side and come to a conclusion. I see why the fans who traveled to Hong Kong to see him play were angry because it is very disappointing to attend a game for one specific player and watch them sit on the bench for the whole game. However, it is unconventional to assume that he was on the bench for political reasons. Knowing the backlash that would have received, he likely wouldn’t let any political agenda affect his play, especially since playing is what he loves to do and has made a career out of. He has been in the game long enough to know how to separate feelings…
I wonder how much of this is to blame Messi for versus his management team… In mid-February, I was listening to the radio, and they were talking about a recent soccer game in Miami where (apparently, it’s a tradition) the soccer players all walked onto the field with a kid before the game, and Messi walked with Saint – Kim Kardashian’s son. Everyone was pissed that Messi walked with Saint and not a less privileged kid who was ‘more deserving’ and would have ‘truly valued’ the experience. The radio hosts agreed that it was ridiculous that a little Kardashian got to walk with Messi, but they then played devil’s advocate and said “hey, maybe Messi had no idea who he’d…