China’s anger at Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi continued to escalate over the weekend. The topic has dominated social media in the People’s Republic for days. Many Chinese accuse the footballer of disrespectful behavior and suspect political reasons why he did not appear during a game for his team Inter Miami in Hong Kong, otherwise appeared conspicuously listless and did not shake the hand of the Hong Kong head of government.
Gustav Theile
Business correspondent for China based in Shanghai.
In response, a China tour by the Argentine national team was canceled at the weekend. They were supposed to play against Nigeria and Ivory Coast in Hangzhou and Beijing in March. The sports authority in Hangzhou spoke in a statement of “reasons that everyone knows”.
A punch in the face”
The final straw was when Messi came on as a substitute in a game in Japan on Wednesday, just three days later. His teammate Luis Suarez played from the start. The game in Japan was a “slap in the face,” wrote the Hong Kong organizer Tatler Asia, which is owned by the Swiss publisher Edipresse.
According to official information, Messi and Suarez were missing the game against a local team in Hong Kong due to injuries, but Messi had taken part in training shortly beforehand. According to Tatler Asia, Inter Miami had contractually guaranteed that the star players would play at least 45 minutes if they were not injured. Local media then contacted doctors to ask whether such a quick cure was really possible.
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The fact that the second game took place in Japan further exacerbates the situation. The country that invaded the People’s Republic in the Second World War and committed countless war crimes there is still considered an arch-rival by many Chinese today. The Global Times, the nationalist agitator of the Chinese party media, attacked Messi in a series of articles. “The implications of this incident go far beyond the realm of sport,” said an editorial that also questioned the integrity of Messi and Miami. Political motives cannot be ruled out.
A columnist from the Hong Kong newspaper “South China Morning Post”, which is owned by the Chinese Alibaba Group, also sharply attacked Messi and Inter Miami. “Hong Kong hates Messi,” he wrote in his column. “He sat on the bench the whole time, all stubborn in pink like an unhappy flamingo.” Messi and Inter Miami radiated arrogance and arrogance. Statements from Messi and Miami have so far failed to calm the situation.
“This dream has shattered”
The fiasco comes at an inopportune time for Hong Kong. The city’s reputation has been tarnished after the suppression of democracy protests, and the financial market is under considerable pressure, also because international investors are withdrawing a lot of funds. Recently, global music stars such as Taylor Swift and Coldplay also preferred other cities in Asia. Hong Kong Prime Minister John Lee criticized Tatler Asia for not meeting the public’s expectations.
This reflects on Hong Kong’s reputation. The organizers said that together with the government, which also contributed financially to the event, they wanted to remind the world how “relevant and exciting Hong Kong is.” “This dream has shattered.” The Global Times’ reaction also showed how important Beijing takes the event. Western media, which claimed the city’s international reputation was suffering because of the incident, was “slandering Hong Kong,” she wrote in the editorial.
The matter is costing the organizers dearly. Tatler Asia did not take advantage of the city’s financial support of around 2 million euros. After great public pressure, the company announced that it would refund half of the admission price to the almost 40,000 fans. They paid the equivalent of up to 630 euros for the tickets. Tatler Asia says the reimbursement will cost a good 6.6 million euros, and the total losses from the event amount to more than five million euros.
But the fiasco could also cost Messi. The superstar has several advertising contracts in the People’s Republic. Many users commented angrily on posts from the brands that cooperate with Messi, calling for a boycott or termination of the contracts.
Xi Jinping big football fan
There was a real Messi mania in Beijing in the summer. Fans besieged Argentina’s team hotel in Beijing and tickets for the friendly against Australia were sold out within twenty minutes. The match took place on the 70th birthday of China’s President Xi Jinping, who is a huge football fan.
Since then, the relationship between Messi and the People’s Republic has not been under a good star. In November, a planned trip from Inter Miami to China with games in Qingdao and Chengdu was canceled at short notice. The trips of other football greats have not been successful recently either. Cristiano Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr canceled two friendly matches in Shenzhen at short notice at the end of January due to an injury to the superstar.