Lionel Messi’s rating in China is undergoing serious deflation. The friendly match that the Argentine player was to play soon with his world champion selection against Nigeria in the large Chinese city of Hangzhou was canceled after the controversy linked to the tour of his club, Inter Miami.
“A company was in discussions with the Argentine football team so that the latter would come to Hangzhou in March to play a friendly match,” the Hangzhou sports bureau said in a statement on Friday, February 9 evening. . “Taking into account the reasons that everyone knows, according to the competent authorities, the conditions for the event to take place are not met and it has been 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 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, but especially his attitude because he had not addressed the public to apologize.
“The Chinese don’t lie down.”
The controversy grew further 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.
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’s 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 [of the cancellation] is deserved,” wrote another. “Brave decision”, “The Chinese don’t fold” and “Get out Messi!” » were among the most frequently posted comments.
The company that organized the meeting in Hong Kong, Tatler Asia, promised those who bought tickets a 50% refund. Another friendly match for the Argentina team, scheduled for March in Beijing against Ivory Coast, has not yet been canceled.