Messi fans back UK Falklands rule after snub
Anger grows among Chinese supporters after star missed Inter Miami match in Hong Kong
CHINESE football fans outraged by Lionel Messi skipping the Hong Kong leg of Inter Miami’s Far East tour have reacted by supporting Britain’s rule over the Falklands.
The Argentinian footballer has been at the centre of a row in China after he stayed on the bench, citing a hamstring injury, during an exhibition game against Hong Kong earlier this month.
The fallout worsened when days later Messi appeared in the second half of Inter Miami’s friendly against Vissel Kobe, in Tokyo, prompting the Beijing Football Association to cancel both of Argentina’s friendlies which had been scheduled to take place in China in March.
Now football fans have ramped up attacks on social media by voicing their support for British rule over the Falklands. Underneath an Argentinian Embassy post on Weibo – the Chinese version of Twitter – advertising a puppet show’s visit to Beijing, one user wrote: “The Falkland Islands are an integral and inseparable part of the United Kingdom.”
Another wrote: “I used to support the Argentinian claim to the Malvinas. Today, I solemnly declare that from now on, I will no longer accept that the Malvinas Islands belong to Argentina”, The Times reported.
“The Malvinas Islands are part of the UK,” a third added. “They were before, they are now, and of course, they will always be in the future. Your country doesn’t have the capability to take them back either.”
At the match in Hong Kong on Feb 4, the 40,000 stadium fans were so frustrated by Messi’s failure to play they booed David Beckham, who part-owns Inter Miami.
Beckham’s social media also came under siege following the match, with angry supporters tearing into an Instagram post celebrating the game.
“Messi even didn’t play for a single second in Hong Kong", one user wrote. “This team is cheating the whole Hong Kong people!”
Another described how their football-mad eight-year-old son had “cried himself to sleep” after the match which they described as a “huge money making machine”.
Organisers Tatler Asia gave a 50 per cent refund to fans who had paid up to £500 to watch the World Cup winner.
Last week Chinese sports officials cancelled Argentina’s exhibition games against Nigeria in Hangzhou and Ivory Coast in Beijing.
“Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate,” the Beijing Football Association said.
There has been speculation online and in local newspapers that the Chinese authorities are behind the furious reaction against Argentina.
Throughout last year’s presidential campaign Javier Milei, the Argentinian leader, was fiercely critical of China, the country’s second-largest trade partner. He said Argentina would no longer work with “communist” regimes and likened Beijing’s government to an “assassin”.