Messi walks onto the pitch before the game. Photo by Hou Yu
China News Service, February 5 (Reporter Bian Liqun) Chinese fans have been let go again! On the evening of the 4th, in the much-anticipated friendly match between Inter Miami and Hong Kong Stars, Messi, the protagonist, did not even appear.
To safeguard this competition, the Hong Kong SAR government provided approximately 16 million Hong Kong dollars in support to the organizers. The money is definitely not for watching the Inter Miami team with little honor, but for Messi's halo. It is precisely because of Messi that the official price of this game is set at 880 to 4880 Hong Kong dollars. Many fans rushed to Hong Kong from thousands of miles away just to watch the "King of Football" in action, but they ended up missing out.
More importantly, similar situations are no longer unique. In November last year, Inter Miami's trip to China failed just four days before the game. The Riyadh Victory Tour to China in January this year was canceled the day before the game because Ronaldo was injured.
Looking at the schedule of Inter Miami, they have played as many as 6 games in this half month, from the United States to El Salvador in Central and North America, to Saudi Arabia in West Asia, and then to Hong Kong, China, and then to Tokyo, Japan. Such a dense schedule can be called an assembly line exhibition match. Not only are the stars overwhelmed, but the quality of the game is also difficult to guarantee. Even the minimum requirement for Messi to play is not met.
Although China has a huge fan market, this kind of one-and-done star exhibition games is really not advisable. If Inter Miami and Messi want to win back the hearts of Chinese fans, they need a public explanation and a sincere "after-sales plan." (over)