Lionel Messi’s rating in China is undergoing serious deflation. The country announced, Friday February 9 and Saturday February 10, that it was giving up hosting two friendly matches of the Argentine football team, after the controversy linked to the player’s tour on the Asian continent with his club, Inter Miami .
The world champion selection had announced a tour to China from March 18 to 26, during which it was to face Nigeria in the big city of Hangzhou and Ivory Coast in Beijing.
“A company was in discussions with the Argentina team so that the latter would come to Hangzhou in March to play a friendly matchthe Hangzhou sports bureau first said Friday evening in a press release. Given the reasons that everyone knows, according to the competent authorities, the conditions for the event to take place are not met and it was decided to cancel it. »
Lionel Messi and his American club angered fans when the Argentine player remained on the bench on Sunday during a friendly match against a local team in Hong Kong, citing an injury. The spectators, who had paid up to 4,800 Hong Kong dollars (570 euros), had expressed their dissatisfaction with the absence of the player, and also with his attitude, because he had not addressed the public to excuse. The Argentinian and David Beckham, co-owner of Inter Miami, were booed in the Hong Kong stadium.
“The Chinese don’t go to bed”
The controversy further swelled when, on Wednesday, Lionel Messi played thirty minutes of a friendly match in Japan, where several photos show him all smiles, while he seemed to have a closed face in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
“Many football fans and Internet friends have recently asked us for information about Lionel Messi’s match in Beijing”said the Beijing Football Association, the body that oversees football in the Chinese capital, on Saturday. ” After checking [par nos services], Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organize the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate.she underlined in a press release.
On the Chinese social network Weibo, the vast majority of Internet users seemed to support this cancellation despite the immense popularity that Messi had enjoyed until then in China.
“If he doesn’t respect his Chinese fans, we can’t let him take a cent from the Chinese pockets”reacted a user, in tune with the general tone of the messages. “We gave him our love and he treats us like that. This slap [de l’annulation] is deserved »wrote another. “Courageous decision”, “The Chinese don’t go to bed” And “Get out Messi!” » were among the most frequently posted comments.
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The company that organized the meeting in Hong Kong, Tatler Asia, promised those who bought tickets a 50% refund. “Injuries are part of the game and we understand that. However, we were saddened by the fact that the players did not show enough respect to the supporters present.”the company emphasized.
A lucrative market for the Argentine federation
The probable cancellation of the tour in China is a headache for the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), which considers the Asian giant a strategic market. In June 2023, Argentina had already played a friendly match in Beijing during a visit that resulted in lucrative contracts with local companies. The AFA has sponsorship and cooperation contracts with the coffee chain Cotti Coffee and the Chinese dairy leader Yili, among others.
“We are fully aware of the importance, uniqueness and enormous growth potential of AFA in the Chinese market”Leandro Petersen, sales and marketing director of the AFA, recently declared.
The Chinese newspaper Global Times, known for his nationalist positions, implied in an editorial this week that the behavior of Inter Miami and Messi could perhaps have “political motivations”. The Hong Kong authorities have been regularly in the crosshairs of the United States and the United Kingdom since the implementation in the semi-autonomous territory of a national security law which helped to muzzle the political opposition.