A friendly football match between Argentina and Nigeria was cancelled in China because of Lionel Messi.
The Hangzhou Sports Bureau made the corresponding decision, taking into account the events of last Sunday.
Then in Hong Kong, Messi's club Inter Miami met with the team from that special administrative region of China.
Didn't see the Argentinean
The stadium was filled with 38,323 spectators who witnessed the Americans defeat the local team 4-1.
But they never saw Lionel, who spent the entire match on the bench with a strained hamstring.
As reported by MIA “Russia Today”, tickets for this confrontation were quite expensive – costing over 1,000 Hong Kong dollars (125 US dollars).
Midway through the second half, fans who had bought tickets at that price began chanting: “We want Messi!”
Beckham and Suarez booed
They also booed Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, who apologized after the match for the Messiah's absence.
The Uruguayan forward of the American team, Luis Suarez, who wanted to thank the fans for their “incredible support,” was also whistled at.
Hong Kong authorities later demanded that the match organisers explain why Messi never appeared on the field.
It was against this backdrop that the Hangzhou Sports Bureau decided to cancel the match between the Argentina and Nigeria national teams.
Due to known reasons, the competent authorities have concluded that the conditions for holding a match involving the Argentine team are not met. The decision has been made to cancel the event, the organization said in a statement.
Complaints
Not long ago, information emerged that the organizer of the Inter Miami-Hong Kong match would refund spectators half the cost of tickets due to Messi not playing in the game.
Incidentally, over 1,000 complaints from fans were registered in Hong Kong.
They expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that they were unable to see the Argentine on the field in the game in question.
Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo's team played against Lionel Messi's team.
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