Just Saying | Hong Kong hates Messi – and he deserves it
- Football star leaves tens of thousands of fans outraged and entire city disappointed after sitting out much-anticipated exhibition match
- Messi accused of being uncooperative, snubbing officials and refusing invitation to acknowledge fans
Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a city scorned. That’s why Hong Kong hates Lionel Messi now.
And it’s a totally understandable sentiment, given how the Argentine football star has not only insulted his many fans here by sitting out the much-vaunted exhibition match they paid exorbitant prices to watch, but also rubbed salt on their wounds with his churlish behaviour.
Messi deserves to bear the brunt of public anger, but the minders of his Inter Miami squad, including feckless club co-owner David Beckham, have plenty of explaining and apologising to do as well. Don’t hold out any hope that they will, though – not with the sheer arrogance and air of superiority they seem to be equipped with.
This privately organised show became a very public matter when it was designated as a mega-event to be sponsored by the government to the tune of HK$16 million (US$2.04 million) as part of a wider campaign to raise Hong Kong’s international profile. It set the city abuzz with anticipation, from excited fans snapping up tickets at ridiculous prices to government officials going gung ho to support what they expected would be a morale boost and PR win for Hong Kong.
But it was off to an unpleasant start from the moment Messi and his pink-clad Inter Miami teammates stepped off their plane to a red-carpet welcome on the tarmac. They looked like they didn’t even want to be there or couldn’t care less, and rudely walked off the stage even as they were being urged to stay on because the welcoming ceremony was still under way.
That was nothing compared with what was to come on the day of the big game, when nearly 40,000 fans at the Hong Kong Stadium were led to believe from the breathless beginning to the bitter end that their hero would play for them.
It was not to be. He sat it out on the bench the entire time, all petulant in pink like some unhappy flamingo – we might as well have been looking at a pouty little ballerina in a tutu throwing a childish sulking fit.
