Local soccer authorities in China’s Beijing and Hangzhou announced this weekend that friendly matches against the Argentina national team scheduled for March will be cancelled. This is apparently part of the continuing backlash in China over Argentina star Lionel Messi, who was injured during a match in Hong Kong. Kong.
Messi is arguably the most popular athlete on the planet and was a welcome face in communist China until this summer, but his failure to play during an exhibition match in Hong Kong on February 4 meant that he was unable to play during an exhibition match in Hong Kong. A few dollars for the chance to watch some great soccer that caused a huge uproar and angered fans who paid hundreds of yen. Later that week, as Messi continued his tour of Asia with his team, Inter Miami, playing a match in Tokyo, Japan, the Chinese government became involved. Media under the control of the Chinese regime reported that Messi wasPolitical” he issued a statement while playing in Japan, criticizing Japan for looking gloomier and more cheerful than Hong Kong, which was under Chinese rule.
Hong Kong has experienced years of turmoil that began with Beijing’s attempts to violate the “one country, two systems” policy and demand the extradition of people the Communist Party deemed criminals. The move sparked a year of protests that drew millions of protesters, followed by a violent crackdown that effectively abolished the “one country, two systems” policy.Hong Kong struggles to regain trust scared Since then, foreign investors have flocked to the city as a capitalist oasis exempt from onerous communist regulations.
However, Messi, the captain of Argentina’s national soccer team, has never publicly declared his opposition to Chinese communism or supported the Hong Kong protests. He gave no indication that he was trying to make a “political” statement in his comments last week, explaining his injury and calling his absence for the Hong Kong game “unfortunate.”
Predictions by Chinese state media that Messi could lose economic opportunities in communist China come after the Beijing Football Association announced in a curt statement this weekend that it had no plans to host matches involving Lionel Messi. Looks like it’s starting to become a reality. Equivalent authorities in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, said more directly that Argentines were no longer welcome, presumably for “well-known reasons” such as the Hong Kong debacle.
Argentina team is It is scheduled They are scheduled to play in two cities in China in March. Argentina was supposed to play Ivory Coast in Beijing. Hangzhou’s match was expected to be against the Nigerian national team. Some reports have suggested that FIFA, soccer’s international body, is considering moving the match to the United States, but that would require coordination among all three teams and that the parties involved in the matter has not yet released an official statement.
The Hangzhou federation said, “In view of well-known reasons, we understand from the competent authorities that the conditions for holding the tournament have not been met, and we have decided to cancel the tournament.” However, there was no detailed explanation or mention of Messi. Ta. . It claims conditions were not “mature” to hold the match.
The Chinese government’s statement mentioned Messi, but claimed the federation had no matches scheduled for Messi, essentially saying that no one expected the Argentina national team to be in China in March at all. It gave the impression that it was not.
of Global Times smile On Saturday, he said that due to the situation in Hong Kong, “Messi is unlikely to be welcomed in the Chinese market in the short term.”
“Industry observers have warned that Messi’s recent actions could lead to a decline in Messi’s commercial value in the Chinese market.” times Added. “Messi is one of the world’s most expensive soccer players, ranking second on Forbes’ 2023 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes.”
Messi is not immune to funding granted by the Chinese regime. Stars collaborated, Global Times Chinese brands including JT Express and liquor retailer Chishuihe have recalled their products. In 2023, Messi appeared on a livestream by Taobao, a subsidiary of China’s Alibaba e-commerce giant, and attempted to speak Mandarin.
messi played The match was held in China in June on dictator Xi Jinping’s birthday.
Messi has made multiple attempts over the past week to quell anger against him in China. She wrote in Chinese and Spanish on Messi’s profile on Weibo, a social media platform controlled by the Chinese regime, wishing her fans “Happy Year of the Dragon!” And he said, “It’s really unfortunate that I can’t play in Hong Kong.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I always want to play. That’s what I always want to do in every game, and especially as we’ve been on the road so far and people have always wanted to play in our games. “Very excited to watch these games,” he wrote.
Weibo users criticized Messi for starting his post with “Hello, Chinese and Hong Kong fans!” claim It argued that the mention of separating Hong Kong from China was an anti-communist political statement.
“Why would foreigners try to divide our country?” one angry regime-sanctioned commenter responded.
In further comments at a press conference last week, Messi explained his injury.
in the first match of the tour [Saudi] Arabia I felt discomfort in my adductor muscles. [leg muscle]That’s why I left,” Messi said. “In the second game, I played the minutes I played to test myself…Then I went to Hong Kong for public training, and there were a lot of people, and there was a clinic, so I went out.”What kids should do I wanted to be there and participate. ”
In any game, someone can get injured. It happened to me,” Messi continued. “I was disappointed that I couldn’t attend the Hong Kong match.”
Messi has not particularly apologized for the situation, which has infuriated Chinese state media.
