HONG KONG.- Outrage over the absence of Lionel Messi in a friendly match for his club in Hong Kong generated more consequences on Saturday, with the cancellation of the two friendly matches that the national team Argentina would contest on the Chinese mainland.
The matches, scheduled for next month, were canceled by local football authorities.
On Saturday, the Beijing Football Federation reported that it would no longer organize Argentina’s friendly against the Ivory Coast, scheduled to take place in the Chinese capital in March.
“Beijing does not plan at the moment to organize the match in which Lionel Messi was going to participate,” said the Federation, cited by different local media.
The news emerged a day after Chinese sports authorities had already canceled a friendly match between Argentina and Nigeria.
Argentina, which led by Messi was crowned in the last World Cup, scheduled a tour of China last month during the FIFA Date that runs from March 18 to 26. He had scheduled matches against Nigeria in Hangzhou and against the Ivory Coast in Beijing.
But Messi, while on tour with his club Inter Miami, upset fans in Hong Kong last Sunday when he did not play against a local team and remained on the bench.
Rejection of Messi’s justification:
The star said he was suffering from a groin ailment, but his excuse was met with skepticism in Hong Kong after he played 30 minutes on Wednesday in Tokyo against Vissel Kobe.
Under Messi’s guidance, Inter Miami won its first title as a franchise last season, the Argentine’s first with the club, and will be among the candidates to compete for the MLS title in the upcoming season of the main soccer league. in the U.S.
Source: With information from AP
