The organizer of Inter Miami's friendly match in Hong Kong has committed to playing at least 45 minutes against Lionel Messi, Hong Kong's sports minister announced on Monday, after the Argentine superstar's absence sparked public outrage.
When asked, Tatler Asia regretted the Argentine's absence in a press release published on Monday and announced that it would forego public funding of 1.9 million euros.
Tatler Asia's CEO has actually confirmed that Messi is under contract to take the field unless he gets injured.
However, the captain of Argentina's World Cup-winning team is officially suffering from a hamstring strain and remained on the bench during Sunday's friendly, won 4-1 against a Hong Kong side.
His package angered the 38,323 viewers who had paid at least $125 (115 euros), often five times as much, to see their idol in action.
Shouts of “Pay it back!” and screams increased until the final whistle, when Englishman David Beckham, co-owner of the Miami club, was drowned out by boos as he tried to thank the crowd.
“Tatler Asia deeply regrets the disappointing end” to what could have been a “great opportunity,” Michel Lamuniere, president and CEO, said in the release.
He added that the organizer had “decided to officially withdraw its application for a government grant” of €1.9 million.
negotiations
The Hong Kong government issued two consecutive statements on Sunday evening saying it was “extremely disappointed” and threatened to withdraw €1.9 million in public funding from Tatler Asia, a media company specializing in fashion, luxury goods and hobbies.
“One of the key conditions of our financing agreement with Tatler Asia was that Messi would take part in the game for at least 45 minutes, subject to fitness and safety considerations,” said Kevin Yeung, Hong Kong’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. during a press conference on Monday.
“Yesterday, before the start of the match, organizer Tatler Asia confirmed again that Messi would play in the second half,” he explained.
Yeung, who attended the match at the stadium along with other officials including Hong Kong Prime Minister John Lee, said the local government tried to negotiate with the organizer when the 36-year-old did not appear on the field at the start of the second half .
Negotiations reached an impasse ten minutes before the end of the game as “solutions” such as Messi appearing on the pitch to interact with fans and collect the trophy were rejected.
At midday on Monday, the Hong Kong Consumer Council said it had received nearly forty complaints about the meeting.