China’s state-owned Global Times The newspaper said on Wednesday that Argentine soccer great Lionel Messi’s absence from this week’s friendly match between soccer club Inter Miami and local team Hong Kong XI was “politically motivated.” denounced.
Messi’s Inter Miami, which also includes FIFA World Cup veteran Luis Suarez, is currently on a world tour promoting the team and playing friendlies against local groups. The team was scheduled to play against the Hong Kong Eleven on Sunday, but Messi’s presence in Hong Kong caused a frenzy in both Hong Kong and communist China, with four fans attending the stadium in hopes of seeing Messi and Suarez on the field. Thousands of people gathered. However, neither player participated in the match due to health reasons.
Officials in communist-controlled Hong Kong have joined Chinese state propaganda condemning Messi, intensifying their condemnation after his appearance in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday. played They played against local team Vissel Kobe for over 30 minutes. Luis Suarez, a Uruguayan player with an international following, also appeared in the Vissel Kobe match, infuriating China.
Before this week’s incident, Lionel Messi was hugely popular in China, as well as in most countries in the world outside the United States. The soccer superstar, considered one of the greatest players of all time, will lead Argentina to its first FIFA World Cup victory since 1986 in 2022 and will host what is widely considered the largest gathering of people in Buenos Aires history, an estimated 5 million people. It caused a revelry.
Messi most recently visited communist China in June, appearing on a livestream promoting products sold by pro-regime e-commerce giant Alibaba, and playing a match on genocidal dictator Xi Jinping’s birthday. Messi took the opportunity to publicly condemn the Chinese government for its ongoing genocide against Uyghurs in East Turkestan, its extreme repression of Christians and Muslims, or its decades-long violence against anti-communist political dissidents. was not used.
of Global Times On Wednesday, he criticized the “honesty” of both Messi and Inter Miami for not playing in the match in Hong Kong, claiming that Messi looked grumpy and unpleasant in Hong Kong, but cheerful and good-natured in Japan.
“In contrast to the friendly match played in Hong Kong three days ago, Argentina international player Lionel Messi came off the bench and played for 30 minutes, showing that he is in good health,” the newspaper said. claimed.
“Unlike in Hong Kong, in Japan he participated in commercial activities and posed for photos with other celebrities. At the same time, he greeted fans with a smile,” the complaint continued. Kong chief executive. ”
“[M]”Even more disappointment and anger arose when Argentina’s star player, who looked expressionless and passive in Hong Kong, took a completely different attitude in Japan.” Global Times with handrail In a separate article published on the same day. “On Wednesday night, Messi played for more than 30 minutes in a seemingly energetic manner in a not-so-full stadium in Japan, shortly after a statement was posted on his Chinese social media account.”
Both Messi and Inter Miami blamed his absence on injury.
“It was unfortunate that I couldn’t play in the Hong Kong match. It was my first tour match. [Saudi] Arabia I felt discomfort in my adductor muscles. [leg muscle]That’s why I left,” Messi said at a press conference after his absence in Hong Kong. “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. ”
“But the truth is, the discomfort continued and it was very difficult to play. Unfortunately, football stuff. In any game someone can get injured. It happened to me,” the player continued. . “I was disappointed that I couldn’t participate in the Hong Kong match.”
in statement Hong Kong’s most famous historical newspaper, South China Morning PostInter Miami apologized for Messi and Suarez not playing ( Global Times Messi was keen to point out that he had not personally apologized, only explained his situation).
“Despite our best intentions, we understand the disappointment caused by the absence of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez from Sunday’s match and would like to confirm that both players were unable to feature,” the club said in a statement. I feel sorry for that.” “Unfortunately, injuries are part of the beautiful game and we feel it necessary to state that the health of our players must always come first.”
“This is part of the cruel beautiful game that inspired this visit to Hong Kong. As the headlines and negative press coverage against the various parties continues, we cannot help but re-emphasize the reality of this type of sports injury. Inter Miami said that
of Global Times He said both explanations were “unconvincing” and accused both the club and the players of potentially trying to make an anti-communist political statement.
“Messi and Inter Miami’s explanation is not convincing and there is much speculation as to the real reason behind it,” the government spokesperson said. “One theory is that Hong Kong intended to revitalize the economy through this incident, and external forces deliberately tried to embarrass Hong Kong through this incident, so their actions were politically motivated. be.”
“Judging by the development of the situation, we cannot rule out this possibility of speculation,” it concluded.
Messi has no history of political activity toward China, including during the Chinese government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2019.
The Communist Party-controlled Hong Kong government has stated the following regarding this issue: demanding It opens up the possibility for Inter Miami to request refunds from fans, giving a “reasonable explanation” to soccer fans and considering Messi featured prominently in the promotion of the match. Regina Yip, one of Hong Kong’s top officials, dramatically declared, “Hong Kong people hate Messi, they hate Inter Miami, and they hate the masterminds behind them who are deliberately and calculatingly disrespecting them.”
of Global Times Hong Kong police have dealt with “at least six reports regarding Messi”, saying “angry Chinese fans” (often weaponized by the regime) have accused Messi, Inter Miami and popular British ex-footballer David – Reported that Beckham’s social media profiles are being flooded. He sent hate messages to players who are shareholders of the team. The state broadcaster threatened that the incident could jeopardize the Argentine national team’s planned visit to China.
“After the disappointment, many netizens expressed on social media that Chinese fans still welcome the Argentina team, but they no longer welcome Messi, who lacks respect for the fans.” . Global Times report.
Argentina, once ruled by a Beijing-friendly left wing, took a dramatic rightward turn with the election of anti-communist President Javier Millay in November. President Millais blocked Argentina from joining the Chinese-led BRICS coalition, calling for “communists, communists,” including China.
“We can use the civilized aspects of life to do business. I will not do business with communists” Millay Said In 2021.
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