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Why Were Lionel Messi and Inter Miami Booed in Hong Kong? Fiasco Explained As Government Gets Involved
Fans in Hong Kong express disappointment as Lionel Messi remains benched during the friendly game against Hong Kong XI.
Football fans in Hong Kong were left disappointed on Sunday, after they didn’t get the chance to see Lionel Messi play on the field, even after spending a high amount of money. Messi’s absence from the Playing XI during the friendly between Inter Miami and Hong Kong XI has made fans furious, who were waiting to see the football star on the ground.
Messi was benched throughout the match and was not even used as a substitute. However, despite his absence, Inter Miami registered a 4-1 victory over Hong Kong. The stadium was jam-packed with almost 38,323 fans who had spent more than 1000 Hong Kong Dollars per person, to watch their favorite star play. As per the authorities, the tickets were sold out within an hour of the announcement of the match.
Booing by Fans during Inter Miami vs Hong Kong XI
After waiting patiently for Messi to grace the field in the first half, fans lost their patience and hence, started cheering “We want Messi” in the second half. After it was confirmed that Messi was to remain on the bench for the entire match, fans started expressing their displeasure openly by booing and also demanding refunds. 
Fans didn’t step away from expressing their anger when David Beckham, the England Football legend and the co-owner of Inter Miami, came to thank them for coming to the ground to watch the match. Fans started booing in front of him with thumbs down, openly expressing their dismay.
Hong Kong government reacts to Messi’s absence
Not just the fans but the government of Hong Kong was also left disappointed with how the events unfolded on Sunday. The government released a statement saying, “Regarding Messi not playing the match today, the Government, as well as all football fans, are extremely disappointed about the organizer’s arrangement. The organizer owes all football fans an explanation.”
Gerardo Martino issues clarification
Inter Miami manager Gerardo Martino also apologized to the fans and tried to control the extent of the damage caused by Messi’s absence. He revealed that Messi was not fit to play and hence was benched on health grounds.
“We also enjoyed today in the stadium, but understand there is a lot of disappointment among fans because of the absence of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. This has been the decision of the medical team, we have checked their physical situation, and if we sent them on the pitch, we would have risked their physical well-being. We understand fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness. We wish we could have sent them on the pitch for a while to play, but the risk was too big,” explained Martino.
The friendly match was organized as a part of the XFEST exhibition match by Tatler. The Hong Kong authorities, too, had given 15 million Hong Kong dollars as grants for the event, to attract tourism. The authorities had also run immense advertisements to create hype ahead of the friendly game. Messi’s face decorated entire Hong Kong, as various screens were placed in the city. A boat with Messi’s face was also introduced and various pop-up stores were designed like Inter Miami dressing room.
With the level of hype created for the event and its opposite and unexpected outcome, fans were left heartbroken and completely dismayed as they couldn’t watch Messi’s performance on the ground.
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