The anticipated friendly match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Argentina has cancelled off due to Lionel Messi’s absence from his team, Inter Miami, in Hong Kong.
According to the Daily Mail, Messi is scheduled to play in an exhibition match between Inter Miami and a Hong Kong XI. Still, he did not play, leaving supporters disappointed and angry.
This dissatisfaction extended to Argentina’s forthcoming games against Nigeria in Hangzhou and Côte d’Ivoire in Beijing.
Following Messi‘s absence in Hong Kong, promoters promised fans a 50% refund on tickets, but unhappiness remained.
As a result, Hangzhou’s sports administration announced the cancellation of the friendly match.
According to Hangzhou authorities, despite negotiations between a company and the Argentinian football squad for the friendly match, present circumstances make staging the game unfeasible.
In a statement, Hangzhou authorities said, “As a commercial event, a company and the Argentinian soccer team negotiated that the team would play a friendly match in March this year in the city of Hangzhou.
“In view of the current well-known reasons, according to the competent authorities, conditions to hold the friendly match are not mature; therefore, we have decided to cancel it.”
