Sports officials in China have canceled a friendly football match scheduled for next March between Argentina and Nigeria in light of the growing anger towards Argentine star Messi due to his not participating with Inter Miami in a friendly match held in Hong Kong last Sunday.
The Argentine national team was scheduled to meet its Nigerian counterpart in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next March before meeting the Côte d’Ivoire national team in Beijing, but Messi’s failure to participate with Inter Miami in Sunday’s match sparked a wave of anger against him among the fans.
Tatler Asia, the private agency that organized the match, which was held in Hong Kong, announced that it would return 50 percent of the price of tickets to the public after widespread protests after Messi sat on the bench throughout the match, while he participated in a similar confrontation in Japan just days later.
Anger increased on Friday, and sports officials in Hangzhou announced that Argentina’s friendly match against Nigeria would not take place.
The officials said in a statement, “As a commercial event, a company negotiated with the Argentine national football team about holding a friendly match in March of this year in Hangzhou. In light of the current reasons that are clearly known, and according to the relevant authorities, the conditions are not suitable for holding the friendly match, and accordingly, We decided to cancel the match.”
It was not immediately clear whether Argentina’s other friendly match against Côte d’Ivoire in Beijing would also be cancelled.
The private agency Tatler Asia said in a statement on its Instagram page that it feels “deep regret and disappointment” due to the disappointment experienced by the fans after Messi sat on the bench throughout last Sunday’s match.
The Hong Kong match attracted 40,000 fans, some of whom paid about five thousand Hong Kong dollars (640 US dollars) for a single ticket.
According to Tatler Asia, all holders of tickets sold through official channels will receive 50 percent of the price.
The agency confirmed that it was in contact with the Hong Kong government to resolve the problem.
Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino said that his team’s technical and medical staff decided that Messi could not participate in last Sunday’s friendly match in Hong Kong because he was not fully fit, but he participated as a substitute in the 60th minute in Tokyo against Japanese league champion Vissel Kobe the following Wednesday.
Regarding this, Tatler Asia said, “We knew that Messi would not participate in the match and we asked the owners and management of Inter Miami to ask him to get up and interact with the audience and explain the reasons for his not participating in the match, but he did not do so. The fact that Messi and (Luis) Suarez participated in the Japan match on the 7th “From February it feels like another slap in the face.”
In the Japan match, which was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo, there were many empty seats and the organizers sold only 28,614 tickets.
Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians and some football fans criticized Messi’s participation in Japan on Wednesday, while the state-run Global Times newspaper said Messi’s absence from Sunday’s match raises many questions about Hong Kong being treated differently.
In a statement, the Hong Kong government said that returning the funds to the public showed that Tatler Asia had made every effort to arrange the return of the funds, adding that many had some questions about what happened.
The statement added, “The government hopes that Inter Miami will finally provide a reasonable explanation to the citizens of Hong Kong and the fans who came to the country to watch the match.”
According to Tatler Asia, Inter Miami had pledged to play its best players, including Messi and Suarez, who comes from Uruguay, for 45 minutes if no injuries occurred.
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