800,000 Won to Watch Lionel Messi Stretch?… Hong Kong ‘Anger’
Local soccer fans were upset when world-famous soccer star Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) did not participate in the Hong Kong professional soccer all-star team friendly match due to an injury.
According to Hong Kong media on the 5th, Messi and Luis Suarez missed the friendly match between the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) Inter Miami and the Hong Kong national team held at Hong Kong Stadium the previous afternoon without notice.
As a result, tens of thousands of fans who gathered to watch Messi play not only in Hong Kong but also in mainland China and neighboring Southeast Asian countries called it a “fraud” and demanded a refund. 파워볼게임
Angry fans continued to criticize the incident on various social media.
Tatler Asia, which hosted the match,
promoted the match extensively by featuring Messi,
and ticket prices soared up to 4,880 Hong Kong dollars (about 840,000 won).
Citing multiple sources, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported
“Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, who observed the game,
was also confident that Messi would play.”
He added, “The Hong Kong government was told on the morning of the match that Messi would play as captain,
even when officials noticed that Lionel Messi was not included in the squad just before the match, they were not informed of any change in plans.”
SCMP said, “The officials were only told that Lionel Messi was injured,
and when he did not show up after the game,
they asked him to at least come to the stadium to receive the trophy and provide a few explanations.”
Inter Miami owner David Beckham provided an explanation and an apology.
“He promised to do it, but he didn’t keep it.”
He added that members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council (Parliament) also claim that the organizers should refund half of the ticket price to fans and also cough up a portion of government subsidies.
Hong Kong’s The Standard, citing sources, reported that “there is a clause in the contract between the hosts and Inter Miami that Messi must play at least 45 minutes in this match unless he is injured.”
In a statement released around midnight the previous day,
the Hong Kong government designated this game as a ‘major sporting event’ and provided a subsidy of 15 million Hong Kong dollars (about 2.57 billion won) to the organizers, and 1 million Hong Kong dollars as a stadium use subsidy.
It was announced that dollars (approximately 170 million won) were provided.
He added, “Regarding Messi’s absence today,
soccer fans and the government are extremely disappointed with the organizers’ actions,” adding,
“The authorities will respond by reviewing the contract provisions,
including the possibility of a reduction in support funds, due to Messi’s absence.”
In a statement, Tatler Asia explained that they were disappointed like the fans
saying they did not know until just before the game that Messi and Suarez would not play.
He added, “The team’s medical team decided that Messi and Suarez were unfit to play,
and this disappointed everyone, including us.”
The Hong Kong newspaper reported that fans who were angry at Messi’s absence booed at the stadium and kicked a billboard featuring Lionel Messi.
