Argentina tour of China canceled over Messi no-show row

Argentina's two planned friendlies in China were canceled by local authorities after Lionel Messi failed to appear in an Inter Miami match in Hong Kong last weekend.

The Beijing Football Federation announced on Saturday that it would not organize the friendly match between Argentina and Ivory Coast scheduled for March. The news comes a day after sports authorities in Hangzhou also canceled a friendly match between Argentina and Nigeria.

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Messi's failure to play in Hong Kong on Sunday sparked widespread anger among fans, with China's state-controlled Global Times saying “the impact of this incident went far beyond the realm of sport.”

The Beijing Football Federation said in a statement to local media: “Beijing is not, at this time, considering hosting the match in which Lionel Messi was due to take part.

Messi, who did not play in the friendly due to a reported injury, appeared as a second-half substitute on Wednesday in Inter Miami's subsequent friendly against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo.

Organizers of the Hong Kong friendly match, Tatler Asia, have announced a 50% refund on tickets, which cost up to almost HK$5,000 ($639), following criticism from the Hong Kong government.

Inter Miami has won just one of six matches on its preseason tour, which stretches from El Salvador to Dallas via Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong and ends in Tokyo. The team's final preseason match is scheduled for Feb. 16 in Florida against Newell's Old Boys, Messi's boyhood club from Rosario, Argentina.

Information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this report.