In response to the farce that Messi did not appear during his trip to Miami China, Fok Qigang, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong's sports, performing arts, culture and publishing sectors, issued a statement on the 5th, expressing great disappointment with the organizers' arrangements.
Fok Kai-gang said that the organizers and Miami International need to apologize and explain to all Hong Kong citizens.
Fok Qigang also believes that although Messi was unable to play, the team did not increase interaction with the public in other ways to respond to and meet the expectations and support of the public, and the attitude was unacceptable due to the lack of respect for the fans and the Hong Kong people.
Later, on the morning of the 6th, Huo Qigang posted a long article of more than 3,000 words on his personal Weibo, once again expressing the view that Hong Kong fans are not respected by Messi.
Huo Qigang.
Here are some excerpts:
Tickets were sold out as soon as they went on sale, and everyone chatted after tea and dinner to inevitably mention the topic of the "football king" visiting Hong Kong. This phenomenon reminds me of the scene in 2003, when Hong Kong invited "Real Madrid" to visit Hong Kong.
At that time, "Real Madrid" was in its most glorious period, with six heavenly kings, including Beckham, and his visit to Hong Kong caused a sensation in Hong Kong. I still remember the good atmosphere, the crowd of fans welcoming the idols, the friendly players and the laughter and laughter throughout.
I was also fortunate to be there to watch the game at the time, and if I remember correctly, every superstar of the "Six Heavenly Kings" played on the field, and the fans had the opportunity to see the style. I'm sure the players can feel their popularity and the fans feel the respect they have.
Twenty years later, the "King of the Ball" Messi visited Hong Kong, and I also hoped to have the feeling of the past, hoping that the original intention of the "Happy Hong Kong" event could really be realized, but the ending of the story was not satisfactory.
In order to receive the "King of the Ball", the Hong Kong Airport Authority made special arrangements to hold a welcome ceremony on the tarmac, and the high-standard treatment was to hope that the team could feel the warmth of the city of Hong Kong and the respect of the citizens for the arrival of foreign guests.
However, before the ceremony was over, the players left the field, indifferent to the call of the master of ceremonies, and hurriedly boarded the bus without knowing whether the players could not understand or could not hear.
The scene was in an uproar, and I felt very disappointed watching the live broadcast, and I was also embarrassed by the guests and emcee on the scene. It's a shame that the elaborate arrangements we prepared for the arrival of the team were trampled on.
Messi blackfaces the whole time.
On the day of the game, the results are known to everyone, so I won't repeat them here. I myself have been involved in sports for many years, and I have also been the head of large and small delegations, and I have had to make some difficult decisions.
I understand that as managers or responsible persons, the health and protection of athletes is always our top priority, but how to respond to and manage crises is also an important part.
I don't know Messi's physical condition, and I don't have the professional qualifications to comment on whether he should play, but if I were Messi, I know that the 40,000 fans at the scene are here for me, and this is not an official match of international specifications, just an exhibition match, I will choose to take the initiative to show up, and even exchange hands with the audience, and give autographed jerseys to thank the fans for their support.
It's unclear if this is too much of an embarrassment for the "Ball King", or is it because he is too popular, too popular, and has become numb to cheers?
Messi's past achievements in the football world are undoubted and deserve our respect, but I believe that Hong Kong fans did not feel respected in the way this game was handled.
I'm also thinking about whether it's fair for us to blame Messi just because the organizer Tatler Asia has invited Inter Miami? What about the team, the coach, and the class owner? Of course, when it comes to the class owner, we can't fail to mention the "heartthrob" Beckham.
Beckham's skills and business acumen are admirable, and that deserves our respect. But Beckham should know that the $10 million appearance fee is actually because of the popularity of Messi and Beckham himself, and if there is no blessing from the "football king", it is not worth the price at all, so it makes no sense to say that it has nothing to do with Messi.
Inter Miami is still a long way from being a "100-year-old store", and I hope it will not forget its original intention of participating in football, not just to make money.
On this incident, I have been consistent – Inter Miami owes Hong Kong fans an explanation and an apology.
There are generations of seniors in the sports industry in Hong Kong, who have built Hong Kong sports step by step, some of them are enthusiastic, some are original intentions, and they just hope that the development of Hong Kong sports will get better and better.
Today, when we talk about the sports industry to support the economy, making money is certainly an important part of it, and I don't think that the organizers should not make money, but we can't forget the original intention of holding sports events.
This time the tickets are expensive, but the fans still spend their hard-earned money to buy tickets in order to see the style of their idols. It is understood that Tatler has also found no less than six corporate sponsors, and it is estimated that the sponsorship cost is expensive, and it is rumored that Tatler will sell the opportunity to take photos with players at a package price of 150,000 yuan.
If I were Messi and I might have emotions knowing that the organisers invited me to take pictures with guests and then charged a premium price. Of course, I don't know the profit and cost of this event Tatler, but all kinds of actions are enough to make people feel "earning as much as possible", not for football, not for fans, only for marketing, which is really not good, and all arrangements also make fans and viewers "the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment".
Every sports event organized by the host organization should hope to be "long-lasting", and every sports event must accumulate experience in order to do better and better and truly give back to sports fans.
I 100% agree with the government not to use the 16 million sponsorship funds to support this event, which is fundamental.
In addition, I also learned that the support for the volunteers was not enough for this event, and it is understood that the organizers did not even express their gratitude at the end.
Volunteers are the key to the success of every sports event, and after each Olympic Games, a speech will be made to thank the volunteers for their dedication, which is a basic respect for the selfless dedication of others.
At this point, I have not changed my position on Tatler, and I hope that your group can consider a suitable solution to give a reasonable explanation to fans, tourists and Hong Kong citizens, and show due respect.
Going back to the introduction at the beginning of the article, in today's Internet age, popularity can come quickly and easily, but if there is no respect behind it, this popularity may come and dissipate quickly.
Regardless of the reasons behind this incident, I hope that all parties, including the government and the sports sector, will bear in mind this incident and its lessons, and continue to hold the event better and better in the future with the spirit of sportsmanship to give back to the society.