The organisers behind the Inter Miami pre-season fixture in Hong Kong, which sparked anger and a diplomatic incident after Lionel Messi didn’t play, have revealed that they spent the first half attempting to persuade the MLS side to find a way to field the Argentina star.
His non-appearance, followed by him playing a friendly in Japan a few days later, has led to a spectacular backlash, detailed in an in-depth report on The Athletic, as Messi found himself unwittingly at the centre of cultural and geopolitical tensions across China, the United States, Argentina, Japan and Hong Kong.
This included one Hong Kong politician calling for him to never return to the country, while Chinese state-affiliated media have made insinuations, entirely without evidence, that Messi may have been acting under the instructions of external forces who wish to undermine Hong Kong.
Read The Athletic’s special report here
Inter Miami beat a Hong Kong XI on February 4, but Messi was not selected having suffered an injury to his adductor. However, Tatler Asia had used Messi’s image to promote the fixture and sold tickets for hundreds of dollars, leaving supporters feeling ripped off.
Michel Lamuniere, the chairman and chief executive of Tatler Asia, which organised the match, told The Athletic he had only discovered Messi would not play “15 minutes before the start” of the game. He said: “The rest of the first half was spent trying to find solutions for Messi to play, talking, and moving around the pitch.”
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Lamuniere added that the agreement between Tatler and Inter Miami stipulated that Messi, plus star team-mates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez, “had to play a minimum of 45 minutes unless injured”.
Yet although Messi and Suarez were injured, Alba and Busquets arrived on the hour mark during the second half and Tatler Asia asked if this constituted a breach of the agreement and therefore a reduction in Miami’s fees for appearing, Lamuniere added: “We are assessing all options and engaging with all partners to discuss possible solutions. This does not include only Inter Miami but all parties involved, including the Hong Kong government and agents. We have been in constant communication with the club, including co-owner David Beckham, and at Tatler, we always seek to find solutions with transparent and constructive communication.”
The event was also in line to benefit from more than $2million in funding from the Hong Kong government, but that money will no longer be granted following the fallout from the fixture. Tatler subsequently announced it would refund up to 50 per cent of the ticket price for fans who purchased tickets via official channels.
Messi has also faced a barrage of hostility on social media platforms Instagram and Weibo. One message read: “China does not welcome dwarves like you and please tell your Argentina football fans that the Falkland Islands belongs to England.”
On February 9, Chinese sports authorities in Beijing and Hangzhou also revealed they would no longer host two friendly matches that Messi’s Argentina national team had been slated to play in March against Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
Following this piece’s publication, Tatler Asia chairman Michel Lamuniere approached The Athletic requesting the following clarification was made.
Lamuniere said: “On Sunday February 4, before kick-off, the official team sheet, a list of the players who are available to play in the game, which was submitted by the Inter Miami CF team and signed by the Head Coach Gerardo Martino, showed Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as substitutes and therefore fit to play. Accordingly, Tatler Asia had every expectation that both would play.
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“Fifteen minutes before the start of the game – I heard that there was a possible problem and that the IM medical staff were working on Messi in the hope he could still play. The rest of the first half was spent trying to find a solution for Messi to continue playing, talking and moving around the pitch.
“At half-time, when it was communicated by the Inter Miami CF club management that there would be no possibility for Messi to play in the game due to an injury, Tatler Asia immediately informed the government. Tatler Asia subsequently spent the second half urging the Inter Miami CF leadership to instruct Messi to address the fans, to no avail.”
Inter Miami declined to comment.
(Top photo: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)
