{"id":15314,"date":"2024-02-09T12:47:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T12:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/09\/messis-miracle-return-stirs-chinese-anger-and-conspiracy-theories\/"},"modified":"2024-02-09T12:47:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T12:47:40","slug":"messis-miracle-return-stirs-chinese-anger-and-conspiracy-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/09\/messis-miracle-return-stirs-chinese-anger-and-conspiracy-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi\u2019s \u2018miracle\u2019 return stirs Chinese anger and conspiracy theories"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For Lionel Messi, it should have been a few minutes of easy work. <\/p>\n

But the Argentine soccer idol\u2019s failure to leave the substitutes\u2019 bench in a routine preseason exhibition match\u00a0has unleashed an unexpected public relations nightmare in one of the world\u2019s most lucrative sports markets where, until now, he had enjoyed widespread popularity. <\/p>\n

The public backlash in China began Sunday when Messi didn\u2019t appear for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami while in Hong Kong \u2013 and ramped up when he joined the team\u2019s game in Japan just days later. <\/p>\n

Messi, who was declared unfit to play in Hong Kong, came on as a 60th minute substitute against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on Wednesday \u2013 an appearance that seemed to energize his teammates before they lost on penalty kicks. <\/p>\n

Across social media in mainland China, scathing commentary on Messi was a dominant topic. One widely circulated video appears to show a blogger chopping up his collection of Messi jerseys with a pair of scissors. <\/p>\n

Many on Chinese social media\u00a0platform Weibo questioned how the star was able to make such a quick recovery three days after the Hong Kong game. The sarcastic hashtag \u201cmedical miracle\u201d trended high with more than 1.3 million views. <\/p>\n

Others lashed out against what they saw as disrespect for Hong Kong \u2013 and China. <\/p>\n

\u201cMessi must give Chinese fans and the Chinese people an explanation,\u201d one user wrote in a comment liked 59,000 times. <\/p>\n

\u201c(He) played in five of the six preseason games and only missed the game in Hong Kong, China! Don\u2019t come to China, China doesn\u2019t welcome you,\u201d another\u00a0user wrote in a post liked by 20,000 others. <\/p>\n

The backlash facing Messi, who has a huge fanbase in China,\u00a0follows a litany of instances where foreign celebrities or brands have sparked ire in the country for perceived affronts. <\/p>\n

The incident also comes as Hong Kong attempts to burnish its image as an international hub \u2013 even as it has come under increasing influence from mainland China, with Beijing tightening its control of the city and its government following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. <\/p>\n

And it highlights both the political and financial risks major brands can face in the midst of such a backlash. <\/p>\n

As public \u2013 and official \u2013 anger mounted throughout the week, Hong Kong match organizer Tatler XFEST announced on Friday that it would refund 50% of the ticket price for fans, a move it said would cost the company $7.1 million and leave it facing nearly $5.5 million in losses. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have invested millions of dollars and months of hard work into bringing a world-class event to Hong Kong, the city that is our home and where we have been headquartered for more than 45 years,\u201d the company, which publishes multiple Tatler branded magazines across Asia, said in their statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur aspiration was to create an iconic moment in support of the government\u2019s efforts to remind the world how relevant and exciting Hong Kong is. That dream is broken today for us and all those who bought tickets to see Messi on the pitch,\u201d the company added. <\/p>\n

After the Hong Kong game, frustration and disappointment from fans in the city ballooned into outrage across mainland China, as influential voices like Hong Kong lawmaker Kenneth Fok and mainland Chinese political pundit Hu Xijin condemned the behavior of the player and the team. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t Messi play in Hong Kong or participate in the handshake with HK (the Hong Kong)\u00a0chief executive? And why did he smile, run freely and looked fit in Japan?\u201d Hu wrote on social platform X, referring to a moment during Sunday\u2019s post-match trophy ceremony, as he called for an \u201cexplanation and apology.\u201d <\/p>\n

The location of the match appeared to add a sting for many \u2013 given historic animosity and modern-day frictions between China and Japan. <\/p>\n

State-affiliated Global Times took the backlash a step further, on Wednesday night publishing an editorial noting a \u201ctheory\u201d suggesting without evidence that Messi and Inter Miami\u2019s actions could have been linked to efforts from \u201cexternal forces\u201d who wish to embarrass Hong Kong. <\/p>\n

The Chinese government has not commented on the incident. <\/p>\n

\u2018Not sincere at all\u2019<\/h2>\n

A statement released on Messi\u2019s official Weibo social media account minutes before the start of the match in Tokyo appeared as an attempt to calm the backlash. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real shame not to be able to play in Hong Kong the other day due to a groin injury that had swollen and I was in pain,\u201d the post said, reiterating comments the player made to reporters in Tokyo Tuesday, adding that he hopes to return to both Hong Kong and mainland China. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who knows me knows that I always want to play, that\u2019s what I always want, to do my best in any game. And especially in these games when we travel so far and fans are excited to see us attend the game healthily,\u201d said the statement, posted in both Chinese and Spanish. <\/p>\n

But the statement\u2019s IP address showed it was posted in China\u2019s Sichuan province, some 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) from Tokyo, fueling derision online. Major social media platforms in China require users to show their IP address location. \u201cThis is not sincere at all,\u201d one Weibo user wrote in response. <\/p>\n

Other users were vitriolic. \u201cDon\u2019t ever come again if you can\u2019t provide a reasonable explanation. You are polluting China\u2019s air by being here. Support the Hong Kong government.\u201d <\/p>\n

The situation is the latest example of how backlash against brands or celebrities can quickly snowball in China\u2019s highly nationalistic social media sphere \u2013 in some cases with the potential for significant business ramifications in the country\u2019s major consumer market. <\/p>\n

China\u2019s so-called \u201cwolf-warrior\u201d diplomats and other government agencies have also made sharp public statements in such instances. <\/p>\n

In one such incident in 2019, the National Basketball Association appeared at risk of losing its lucrative footing in the country after the general manager of the Houston Rockets expressed support for Hong Kong\u2019s protesters. <\/p>\n

Soccer is a massively popular sport in China and major clubs will often incorporate stops in the country on what can be highly profitable pre-season tours. <\/p>\n

Ardent support for Messi gripped mainland China last summer after the Argentina national team played a friendly match against Australia in Beijing. That was the superstar\u2019s seventh time in China, and his eighth could come in March when\u00a0Argentina has two friendly matches scheduled\u00a0in the country.\u00a0
\u00a0
This week, the\u00a0social media page of a Chinese liquor company whose product campaign features Messi was also inundated with comments calling for boycotts or \u201ccontract termination.\u201d <\/p>\n

Following the Hong Kong game, Inter Miami coach Gerardo \u201cTata\u201d Martino explained the decision not to field Messi was made on very late notice and under the recommendation of the club\u2019s medical staff. He\u00a0also asked for fans\u2019 forgiveness. <\/p>\n

But it added: \u201cWe do feel it necessary to express that injuries are unfortunately a part of the beautiful game, and our player\u2019s health must always come first.\u201d <\/p>\n

David Rowe, an emeritus professor at Western Sydney University focused on media and sport, said there could have been better communication with fans before and during the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cMessi is a human being not a machine or a replicant. However, these games are not mainly about football, but promotional and commercial exercises,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of Messi, is it more important that he performs in matches that mean very little in strict footballing terms, or preserves his body for actual competitive sport contests such as in MLS? Purist football fans would say the latter \u2013 but they are not the majority at touring exhibition games like this one.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hong Kong outrage<\/h2>\n

The furor comes as Hong Kong officials aim to restore the city\u2019s international image, which has been damaged by years of stringent anti-Covid controls and a crackdown on civil liberties following the mass and at times violent 2019 pro-democracy protests. <\/p>\n

The Inter Miami game was widely promoted by its organizer in the city for months, with Messi featured prominently in adverts. The sold-out game, with some tickets at eyewatering prices, featured as part of the city\u2019s campaign to host \u201cmega events\u201d meant to drive a tourism rebound. <\/p>\n

The Hong Kong government has issued multiple statements expressing its \u201cextreme\u201d disappointment with the outcome as it scrambled to respond to public anger over Sunday\u2019s match \u2013 and avoid becoming its target. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday after the Tokyo match, Hong Kong officials swiftly released a statement demanding Inter Miami explain how Messi appeared to have played so \u201cactively and nimbly\u201d at Japan\u2019s National Stadium. <\/p>\n

Several pro-Beijing politicians also took to the internet to slam Messi. <\/p>\n

Among them, veteran lawmaker Regina Ip, also a top adviser to Hong Kong\u2019s chief executive, called Messi\u2019s snub\u00a0\u201cdeliberate and calculated,\u201d saying \u201chis lies and hypocrisy are disgusting.\u201d \u201cMessi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong,\u201d she wrote on X. <\/p>\n

But some questioned whether such a response would help officials\u2019 efforts to burnish Hong Kong\u2019s appeal. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the government has tried hard to woo the world back, mood swings and occasional outbursts have the opposite effects, undermining confidence because the climate has become more volatile and less predictable,\u201d said Kenneth Chan, an associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, who drew parallels to the so-called \u201cwolf-warrior\u201d rhetoric used by officials on the mainland. <\/p>\n

Many social media users in Hong Kong continued to criticize Messi and voice their frustration with the lost opportunity and perceived wasted funds, but others too questioned how the response would play out for the city. <\/p>\n

One social media user noted that it was not only Messi who played in Tokyo, but not Hong Kong. The Japanese capital is also hosting pop superstar Taylor Swift this week for one of only two Asia stops on her Eras Tour. <\/p>\n

\u201cTokyo is the real \u2018capital of mega events,\u2019\u201d the user wrote. <\/p>\n

This story has been updated.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Lionel Messi, it should have been a few minutes of easy work. But the Argentine soccer idol\u2019s failure to leave the substitutes\u2019 bench in a routine preseason exhibition match\u00a0has unleashed an unexpected public relations nightmare in one of the world\u2019s most lucrative sports markets where, until now, he had enjoyed widespread popularity. The public <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":15315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}