Argentine football star Messi was invited to play an exhibition match in Hong Kong with the US International Miami team on the 4th. However, he ultimately did not participate in the match. Some mainland Chinese people believe Messi deliberately intended to “insult China”. Recently, many have flocked to leave messages on the Argentine Embassy’s Weibo in China, stating that the Falkland Islands are sacred and inseparable territory of the UK.
Many mainland Chinese and Hong Kong football fans had high expectations for Messi’s visit to Hong Kong, but Messi did not play in the end. Prior to this, Messi played in matches in Saudi Arabia on February 2nd and in Japan on February 7th. Particularly in the match against the Japanese team Vissel Kobe on the 7th, Messi played for nearly 30 minutes, which infuriated many mainland Chinese and Hong Kong football fans.
As the incident continues to escalate, there are voices questioning why Messi did not play in Hong Kong, suggesting that there may be international “anti-China” forces manipulating behind the scenes.
On the night of February 7th, the hawkish mainland Chinese media Global Times published a commentary stating that Messi played as a substitute for 30 minutes in the friendly match between the International Miami team and Vissel Kobe in Japan, showing good physical condition. The match in Hong Kong became the only one Messi missed out of the six preseason friendlies so far.
The Global Times stated, “Considering the huge gap, the impact of this incident has far exceeded the scope of sports.”
The article also mentioned, “Hong Kong has organized large-scale international football friendlies before, but cases like Messi and the International Miami team are extremely rare. Messi and the International Miami team’s explanations are not convincing, and there are many speculations about the true reasons behind it. Some say it is politically motivated, as Hong Kong intends to develop event-based economy, and external forces deliberately want to embarrass Hong Kong through this. Judging from the development of the situation, the possibility of such speculation cannot be ruled out.”
As more and more people believe that Messi’s failure to play in Hong Kong is an “insult to China”, the Hangzhou Sports Bureau announced on the 9th that the scheduled friendly match between the Argentine football team and a team in Hangzhou in March was canceled due to “well-known reasons”.
The Beijing Football Association subsequently announced on the 10th that there are currently no plans to hold any matches involving Messi in Beijing.
The official Argentine national team announced in January this year that they would play two warm-up matches in Beijing and Hangzhou in March, which would be important matches for the team’s preparation for the 2024 Copa América. Now, both of these matches have been cancelled, and Messi is not expected to have the opportunity to play in mainland China in the short term.
Not only that, some disgruntled mainland Chinese netizens have recently flooded the Weibo of the Argentine Embassy in China, leaving comments stating, “The Falkland Islands are the sacred and inseparable territory of the UK”.
Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as the “Malvinas Islands”, or simply “Malvinas”. According to information on Baidu Baike, the Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic, about 500 kilometers east of the southern coast of South America’s Patagonia. France, the UK, Spain, and Argentina have all established settlements on the islands at different times. The UK reaffirmed its colonial rule over the islands in 1833, while Argentina also claims sovereignty over the islands.
In 1982, Argentina carried out a military operation to reclaim the islands, leading to the Falklands War. Argentina ultimately lost the war and withdrew its forces, and the UK regained sovereignty over the islands.
On January 3, 2024, Argentine authorities once again urged the UK to return the Falkland Islands. Beijing’s position on the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands is to support Argentina’s legitimate claim to sovereignty over the islands.