Lionel Messi issues video clarifying fallout in China over missing friendly match in HongKong

Lionel Messi is one of the global icons of sports and enjoys a massive fan following all around the world. Messi is currently associated with the Inter Miami club which was scheduled to play a friendly match in Hong Kong and the fans were quite excited to see the legend play in Hong Kong.

Lionel Messi’s absence from the match sparked widespread anger among fans present in the ground which soon spread like wildfire and spread to part of Hangzhou and Beijing when the Argentinian legend was set out to play another friendly match at Tokyo in Japan just three days later.

Messi’s absence was given a political angle fueled by the larger Chinese media to the extent that Hangzhou and Beijing saying that they will not host Argentina’s matches scheduled to be played in March.

After the matter became international news and created a nationwide furore, Messi himself took into his own hands to clear the air around his non-availability for the match in Hong Kong. Messi shot a video and uploaded it on China’s one of largest social media platforms where he gave the explanation of why he didn’t play the match and quashed any political angle that was being attached to his absence.

Messi clears the air on his absence

In the video uploaded on Weibo, Messi said, “I’ve read and heard many things that have been said after the game in Hong Kong. I wanted to record this video and give you the true version so nobody has to continue reading false stories.

I’ve heard people say that I didn’t want to play for political reasons and many other reasons that are totally untrue. Had that been the case I wouldn’t have even travelled to Japan or visited China, as I have many times. Since the start of my career I’ve had a very close and special relationship with China.”

He further explained that he was recovering from an injury during that time and as a precautionary measure, he decided to sit out of the game. Messi stated, “As I said in the press conference, I had an inflamed adductor and I couldn’t play in the first game in Saudi Arabia, which is when I felt it. In the second game I tried to play for a bit, but it got worse. Then on the day before the game (in Hong Kong) I tried to train and made an effort for all those who had come to watch training.”

He further added, “It felt a bit better a few days later and that’s why I played for a bit in Japan to prepare fitness-wise for everything to come because I needed to play and get back up to speed.”