Drama in Hong Kong over Lionel Messi's no-show another reminder as to why fans matter

Things can get incredibly disappointing if your favourite band, athlete or team fails to show up to perform. Especially if a fortune has gone into organising a concert or a match, and fans have emptied their pockets to catch a glimpse of their idols doing what they do best — enthrall masses. It’s no secret that Lionel Messi is one of the most popular and beloved sportspersons in the world in this era, and is widely considered one of the greatest to have ever played the ‘Beautiful Game’ of football. The 36-year-old, who had a storied 17-year run with FC Barcelona, would further cement his status as a legend of the game by playing a central role in Argentina’s triumph in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After a brief stint with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi would shift base to the United States where he would help put Major League Soccer club Inter Miami on the football map by signing with the club that has England and Manchester United legend David Beckham as one of its owners. His massive popularity would result in the club that was little known outside of the US playing exhibition matches all over the world, including in Saudi Arabia where Messi’s side would be pitted against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. Shortly after their trip to Saudi, where they lost both matches, albeit by contrasting margins, Inter Miami were scheduled to play an exhibition match in Hong Kong against a team comprising some of the top players from the local football league. Nearly 40,000 fans showed up at the Hong Kong Stadium, each paying 880 to 4,880 Hong Kong dollars (roughly Rs 9,340 to 51,800) to catch a glimpse of one of the world’s most prolific forwards of all time, CNBC reported. That stakes were high in the exhibition match could be ascertained from the fact that Hong Kong’s Major Sports Events Committee (MSEC) had paid organisers Tatler Asia up to 15 million Hong Kong dollars for the event with another million slotted for the venue, according to BBC. Messi, however, was required to play at least 45 minutes of the match. Things however, would go downhill both for the organisers and fans, with Messi pulling up injured due to a hamstring niggle that forced him to watch the game from the sidelines. The Hong Kongers kept chanting “we want Messi” during the course of the game, but teams rarely make athletes play through injury, let alone a superstar that is the sole reason behind the club gaining worldwide attention. Later as the fans resorted to a chorus of boos , and even iconic midfielder Beckham would not be spared of the fans’ wrath, his post-game speech getting drowned out by jeers from the crowd. Such was the fallout that the organisers, who had guaranteed Messi playing on the pitch, have now refused to accept payment for the event. “We do feel a bit scammed by the club because we paid, and I think most people pay, to see Messi and it was advertised almost exclusively that Messi was going to play,” a fan was quoted as saying, according to CNN. Organisers need to do better to compensate fans It wasn’t just Messi who failed to show up on the field. Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who spent a number of years alongside Messi at Barca and is now sharing the dressing room with him in Miami, too couldn’t take the field due to an injury. There isn’t much organisers and fans can do with a player pulls up injured. And injuries are but part and parcel of sport, as are victories and defeats. And a player might just give himself/herself the extra push in the final of a major event such as the World Cup final or the UEFA Champions League even if dealing with an injury. An exhibition game, on the other hand, simply isn’t big enough an occasion to take such a risk, even if a lot of money has gone into organising the match.

Lionel Messi and his teammate Luis Suarez were on the bench for Inter Miami's 4-1 win against a Hong Kong League XI, prompting boos and chants of ‘refund’ from angry and disappointed fans https://t.co/bbUROuEuMw pic.twitter.com/R4Y0FmjXEE

— Reuters Sports (@ReutersSports) February 5, 2024

The club, after all, cannot risk aggravating Messi’s hamstring issue and risk having him spend a longer spell on the sidelines that could be catastrophic as far as their hopes of gunning for the title are concerned. If there is a lesson to be learned from the drama in Hong Kong, it is that organisers need to find a better way to compensate fans and have a proper mechanism in place should such a situation arise. And that is something organisers of Inter Miami’s next friendly, against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo will have in mind when the two sides lock horns on Wednesday, 7 February. Yes superstars are crucial to sport and to organisers around the world. But what is sport, if not for its fans.