Lionel Messi sat out a friendly in Hong Kong on Sunday, Feb. 4, due to discomfort of his adductor
Lionel Messi of Inter Miami reacts during the preseason friendly match between Hong Kong Team and Inter Miami at Hong Kong Stadium on Feb. 4, 2024, in Hong Kong, China. Fred Lee/Getty Images

Hong Kong soccer fans want a refund.

Soccer star Lionel Messi was showered with boos by an angry crowd of nearly 40,000 at Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 4, for sitting out Inter Miami's friendly with Hong Kong XI.

According to CNN, tickets for the event were selling for anywhere between $113 and $624, a price range high enough to prompt local fans to chant repeatedly for a refund once it became clear that the Argentinian soccer legend was not going to grace the pitch.

That the exhibition ended with a 4-1 victory for Inter Miami over Hong Kong XI was irrelevant, because all of the focus was on Messi opting not to play due to swelling of his adductor.

"The truth is that it was bad luck that I couldn't be present on the day of the match in Hong Kong," Messi said Tuesday at a press conference in Japan, where Inter Miami went to play a friendly on Wednesday versus J1 League club Vissel Kobe.

"In the first game of the tour in Saudi Arabia, I felt discomfort in my adductor and that's why I left the match," the 36-year-old said. "In the second game, I played the minutes I played to test myself, to see what sensations I had and how I felt because I had an MRI done and the results showed that I had swelling in the adductor, but there was no injury. That's why I tried.

Lionel Messi sitting out Inter Miami's friendly vs. Hong Kong XI on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024
Second from the right, Lionel Messi of Inter Miami reacts during the preseason friendly match between Hong Kong Team and Inter Miami at Hong Kong Stadium on Feb. 4, 2024, in Hong Kong, China. Fred Lee/Getty Images

"Unfortunately, it is something that happens in football, in any game it can happen that we get injured," Messi went on. "It happened to me and I couldn't be in the game in Hong Kong, and it's a shame because I always want to participate, I want to be there, and even more so when it comes to these types of games where we traveled so far and people were so excited to watch us play."

In an interview with American comedian Jameson Gong, NBC News reported Monday that the funnyman purchased a ticket worth $385 for his 12-year-old son to attend a game that the offended father later called Hong Kong's "biggest scam."

"People need to be held accountable, fired, whatever," said Gong, who lives in the city.

"This is an embarrassment," he added. "Let's be honest, no one was going to buy a ticket if they knew Messi was not going to play."

The event's commercial partner, Tatler XFEST, expressed "extreme disappointment" and claimed it was unaware of Messi's "non-participation" prior to Sunday's friendly, according to CNN.

Inter Miami's preseason tour began on Jan. 19 with a game in El Salvador. This was followed by a match in Dallas on Jan. 22, then a pair of contests in Saudi Arabia - on Jan. 29 and Feb. 1 - followed by last Sunday's match in Hong Kong.

After Wednesday's friendly in Japan, Inter Miami concludes its tour with an exhibition game against Argentinian club Newell's Old Boys on Feb. 15 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

The obvious purpose of Inter Miami's globe-spanning tour - like the club's massive investment in Messi - is to expand its appeal and brand way beyond Major League Soccer and North America. Unfortunately, Sunday's stop in Hong Kong descended into what's colloquially known as a really bad look.