The Guardian - China-Lionel Messis Inter Miami call off China tour
November 1, 2023 3 min 562 words
Inter Miami的计划取消了中国之行，这对于中国足球迷和球队来说无疑是一个令人失望的消息。本次行程原本是为了进行两场友谊赛，预计会吸引超过10万名观众。作为阿根廷世界杯冠军和八次金球奖获得者的Lionel Messi，他在中国已经有过至少七次的亮相，因此他在中国的知名度相当高。此次取消的原因是中国前第二号领导人李克强的去世，这表现出对中国政府的尊重，但也让球迷感到遗憾。 然而，这次行程的取消也反映出了一些物流挑战，包括在中国的门票销售问题和一场比赛被取消的传闻。这次行程原本是Inter Miami首次的国际巡回，也本可以作为Messi在本月晚些时候为阿根廷参加两场世界杯预选赛之前的一次热身机会。 尽管如此，Inter Miami的决定可能是明智的，因为在尊重中国政府的同时，他们仍表达了希望扩大国际影响力的意愿。考虑到Messi在全球的巨大知名度，未来仍有可能会有其他国际巡回计划。作为Inter Miami的球迷，我们期待着看到Messi在未来的比赛中继续为球队带来荣誉，同时也希望球队有更多的国际亮相机会。
Lionel Messi won’t be playing in China this month after all.
Inter Miami announced Wednesday that its planned trip to China for a pair of exhibition matches has been called off. The team announced the trip last month, with a pair of games originally scheduled for 5 November and 8 November.
It would have been at least the eighth time that Messi – the World Cup champion for Argentina and now an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, after receiving the annual award yet again earlier this week – played in China, and the total attendance for the two planned matches could have exceeded 100,000.
Inter Miami said the reason was “unforeseen circumstances.” The tour promoter, NSN, said the decision to cancel was out of respect to Chinese officials after the death last week of the country’s former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang. He was China’s top economic official for a decade.
TyC Sports, a network in Argentina, reported Monday that the trip was called off. The team did not confirm that decision until Wednesday.
“The tour promoter, NSN, has informed Inter Miami CF of the cancellation of its China Tour due to unforeseen circumstances in China,” read Inter Miami’s statement. “Inter Miami’s ambition remains to expand its global reach by playing in front of incredible fans from across the globe; the Club will continue to explore future opportunities with NSN to achieve this goal.”
There were clear logistical challenges with the trip, including a botched ticket launch in China and reports that one of the matches would be canceled. It would have been Inter Miami’s first international tour and could have served as a warm-up of sorts before Messi is expected to play in two World Cup qualifying matches for Argentina later this month.
Messi returned to the US early Tuesday after winning the Ballon d’Or and was with Inter Miami for a training session that morning. The team did not make the Major League Soccer playoffs and now has no games officially scheduled, though the ongoing training suggests Inter Miami may try to play an exhibition in the coming weeks.
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The team – which won Leagues Cup this year for its first-ever trophy, doing so shortly after Messi’s ballyhooed signing with the club – hasn’t publicly revealed plans for any other international tours in the future, but others are expected given Messi’s enormous global popularity. He remains under contract to Inter Miami for the 2024 and 2025 MLS seasons, making between $50m and $60m annually.
Messi played in China as recently as this past June, shortly after he stunned much of the soccer world by announcing that he would sign with Inter Miami. He scored barely one minute into a match for Argentina against Australia in Beijing on 15 June.
Messi also won Olympic gold in China, helping Argentina win the title at the Beijing Games in 2008. He and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham have enormous followings in Asia, along with several endorsement deals in the region.