Lionel Messi warms the bench during a friendly between Hong Kong XI and Inter Miami<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
After failing to win any of their first four preseason games, Inter Miami finally registered victory as they beat Hong Kong XI 4-1 on Sunday, but star attraction Lionel Messi\u2019s absence prompted the country\u2019s government to express its disappointment.<\/p>\n
The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner, who is reportedly struggling with a hamstring injury, was not included in Inter Miami\u2019s matchday squad despite Head Coach Gerardo \u201cTata\u201d Martino telling a news conference on Friday that Messi was \u201clikely\u201d to feature in the game.<\/p>\n
Martino also elected to leave the team\u2019s three other former Barcelona stars \u2013 Sergio Busquets, Luis Su\u00e1rez and Jordi Alba \u2013 on the bench from the start in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Spectators chanted \u201crefund\u201d and the Hong Kong government said the match organizers, Tatler Asia<\/em><\/strong>, may face a reduction in funding after Messi stayed on the bench during the match.<\/p>\nThe Major Sports Events Committee (MSEC) had granted 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.92 million) for the event along with a grant of 1 million Hong Kong dollars for the venue, the government said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding Messi not playing the match today, the Government, as well as all football fans, are extremely disappointed about the organisers\u2019 arrangement. The organiser owes all football fans an explanation,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MSEC will take follow-up actions with the organiser according to the terms and conditions, which includes reducing the amount of funding as a result of Messi not playing the match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi watched the match from the Inter Miami bench after he was not included in the matchday squad.<\/p>\n
Fred Lee\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The organisers said they expected Messi and Suarez to play and were extremely disappointed that they did not feature in the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite some news reports, Tatler did not have any information about the non-participation of Messi or Suarez prior to kick off.<\/p>\n
\u201cMessi and Suarez were deemed unfit to play by their team\u2019s medical department, to everyone\u2019s, including our disappointment,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lionel Messi warms the bench during a friendly between Hong Kong XI and Inter Miami \u00a0 After failing to win any of their first four preseason games, Inter Miami finally registered victory as they beat Hong Kong XI 4-1 on Sunday, but star attraction Lionel Messi\u2019s absence prompted the country\u2019s government to express its disappointment. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n
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