Messi's 'Hong Kong No-Show' Finally... "Partial Ticket Refund Possible"

Chinese State Media Reports "Possibility of Foreign Intervention"

There has been a possibility raised for partial refunds of ticket prices related to the 'no show' of soccer star Lionel Messi (37, Argentina), who plays for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS), at a friendly match in Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong reported on the 9th, citing sources from the Hong Kong government, that "Tatler Asia, the organizer of the friendly match, is highly likely to announce a partial refund today."

Lionel Messi sitting on the bench during the friendly match on the 4th.
[Photo by AFP / Yonhap News]

SCMP added that a Hong Kong official met with Tatler Asia, which hosted the friendly match between Inter Miami and the Hong Kong professional soccer All-Star team held on the 4th in Hong Kong, earlier that morning.

On the 4th, about 40,000 soccer fans who purchased tickets costing hundreds of thousands of won each gathered for the friendly match between Inter Miami and the Hong Kong professional soccer All-Star team. They came to see the 'God of Soccer,' Messi. However, Messi did not step onto the field due to injury, which infuriated Hong Kong fans. Subsequently, fans who came from Hong Kong, mainland China, and nearby Southeast Asian countries to watch Messi's game expressed outrage and demanded refunds.

In particular, the Hong Kong government, which had actively extended support through subsidies, revealed belatedly that it was only informed of Messi's 'no show' 10 minutes before the end of the match, which caused a bigger stir.

Lionel Messi is playing in a friendly match between J-League Vissel Kobe and MLS Inter Miami held on the 7th at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. 2024.2.7
Photo by AP/ Yonhap News

The next day, after being notified of Messi's absence, the Hong Kong government urged Messi to at least come out onto the field and greet the fans, but this was also rejected. Subsequently, the government stated it would reconsider the promised subsidy payment to Tatler, and Tatler immediately withdrew its application for the subsidy.

The issue escalated further. Messi played for about 30 minutes in a friendly match held in Japan on the 7th, three days after the so-called 'Hong Kong no show.' As a result, the anger and refund demands from Hong Kong fans intensified.

On the previous day, Bill Tang, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, held a press conference and announced that if Tatler does not explain Messi's absence within a week and does not refund those who purchased tickets for 3,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 510,000 won), he and about ten others will file a lawsuit.

Currently, the Hong Kong Consumer Council has received over 1,000 consumer complaints demanding refunds for the match, and the total refund amount requested is reported to have reached 8.1 million Hong Kong dollars (about 1.4 billion won).

Earlier, Chinese state media claimed that there might be political motives behind this incident, and reports emerged mentioning the possibility of the Argentina national team's visit to China being canceled. The claim is that Hong Kong sought economic revival through this match, but foreign forces deliberately tried to put Hong Kong in a difficult position by causing Messi's absence.