China’s state-run Global Times newspaper accused Argentine soccer great Lionel Messi on Wednesday of having “political motives” for not playing during a friendly match this week between his soccer club, Inter Miami, and Hong Kong XI, the local team.
Messi’s Inter Miami, also featuring FIFA World Cup veteran Luis Suárez, is currently on a world tour promoting the team and playing friendly matches with local parties. The team was scheduled to play against Hong Kong XI on Sunday and Messi’s presence in the city had caused a frenzy in both Hong Kong and communist China, attracting 40,000 people to the stadium expecting to watch Messi and Suárez on the field. Neither, however, played the match, allegedly for health reasons.
Communist Party-controlled Hong Kong officials have joined Chinese state propaganda in condemning Messi and increased the intensity of their condemnations following Messi’s appearance in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, in which he played for over 30 minutes against the local team Vissel Kobe. Luis Suárez, an Uruguayan player with an international following, also played the Vissel Kobe game, outraging China.
Prior to the incident this week, Lionel Messi enjoyed outsized popularity in China, as he does in most of the world outside of the United States. The soccer superstar is considered one of the greatest players of all time and delivered Argentina’s first FIFA World Cup victory since 1986 in 2022, prompting what is widely considered the largest assembly of people in the history of Buenos Aires: an estimated 5 million revelers.
Messi visited communist China as recently as in June, appearing in a livestream promoting products sold by the regime-friendly e-commerce giant Alibaba and playing a match on genocidal dictator Xi Jinping’s birthday. Messi did not use the opportunity to publicly condemn the Chinese government for its ongoing genocide of the ethnic Uyghur people of East Turkistan, its extreme repression of Christians and Muslims, or its decades of violence against anti-communist political dissidents.
The Global Times impugned the “integrity” of both Messi and Inter Miami on Wednesday for failing to appear in the Hong Kong match, claiming that Messi appeared dour and unpleasant in Hong Kong, while seeming jovial and warm in Japan.
“In contrast to the friendly match held three days ago in Hong Kong, Argentine player Lionel Messi came off the bench and played for 30 minutes, demonstrating good physical condition,” the state outlet claimed.
“Unlike in Hong Kong, he participated in commercial activities and took photos with other celebrities in Japan. At the same time, he greeted fans with a smile,” the complaints continued, “which is in stark contrast to his expressionless and hands-in-pocket reaction when he skipped the awards ceremony where the players were supposed to be awarded by the Hong Kong Chief Executive.”
“[M]uch more disappointment and anger were aroused when the Argentine star, who looked impassive and reluctant in Hong Kong, adopted a completely different demeanor in Japan,” the Global Times railed in a separate article published on the same day. “On Wednesday night, Messi played for over 30 minutes in a not-so-packed stadium in Japan with seemingly high spirits, right after a statement was posted on his account on Chinese social media.”
Both Messi and Inter Miami issued explanations blaming an injury for his absence in the game.
“It was bad luck that I couldn’t be in the Hong Kong match. In the first match on the tour in [Saudi] Arabia I felt discomfort in my adductor [leg muscle], that’s why I exited,” Messi said at a press conference after his no-show in Hong Kong. “In the second match, I played the minutes I played to test myself … Then we went to Hong Kong and had the open-door training and I went out because of the number of people we had and because there was also a clinic with the kids to do and I wanted to be present and participate.”
“But the truth is that the discomfort continued and it was very hard for me to play. Unfortunately, soccer things. In any match, someone can be injured. it happened to me,” the player continued. “I couldn’t be in the Hong Kong match and it was a shame.”
In a statement to Hong Kong’s most prominent newspaper of record, the South China Morning Post, Inter Miami apologized that Messi and Suárez did not play (the Global Times keenly noted that Messi has not personally apologized, only explained his situation).
“Despite our best intentions, we understand there has been disappointment over the absence of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez in Sunday’s match and we are sorry that the two players could not participate,” the club said. “We do feel it necessary to express that injuries are unfortunately a part of the beautiful game, and our player’s health must always come first.”
“It is one part of the beautiful game that is cruel, and impacted our visit to Hong Kong on this occasion. As we continue to consume the headlines and negativity towards the different stakeholders, we felt compelled to reiterate the reality of these types of sports injuries,” Inter Miami expressed.
The Global Times called both of the explanations “not convincing” and accused both the club and its player of potentially attempting to make an anti-communist political statement.
“The explanations from Messi and Inter Miami are not convincing, and there are many speculations about the real reasons behind it,” the government mouthpiece said. “One theory is that their actions have political motives, as Hong Kong intends to boost economy through the event and external forces deliberately wanted to embarrass Hong Kong through this incident.”
“Judging from the development of the situation, the possibility of this speculation cannot be ruled out,” it concluded.
Messi has no history of political activism against China, including during Beijing’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2019.
The communist-controlled government of Hong Kong has expressed itself on the matter, demanding “reasonable explanations” to soccer fans and opening the possibility of demanding Inter Miami refund its fans, given that the publicity for the match prominently featured Messi. One senior Hong Kong official, Regina Ip, dramatically declared, “Hong Kong people hate Messi, Inter Miami and the black hand behind them, for the deliberate and calculate snub to Hong Kong.”
The Global Times reported that Hong Kong police are processing “at least six reports regarding Messi” and that “angry Chinese fans” – often weaponized by the regime – are flooding the social media profiles of Messi, Inter Miami, and David Beckham, the popular British former soccer player who is a shareholder in the team, with hate messages. The state outlet added a threat that the planned visit to China by the national team of Argentina may be compromised by the incident.
“After the letdown, many netizens expressed on social media that Chinese fans still welcome the Argentina team, but no longer welcome Messi, who lacks respect for the fans,” the Global Times reported.
Once run by Beijing-friendly leftists, Argentina took a dramatic turn rightward in November with the election of anti-communist President Javier Milei, who prevented Argentina from joining the China-led BRICS coalition and has promised not to make any deals with “communists,” including China.
“We could do business with the civilized side of life. I don’t do transactions with communists,” Milei said in 2021.
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