美斯在日本踢球 - 令中國在受到冷落後的憤怒情緒高漲 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Messi Plays in Japan After Anger Grows in China Following Snub (2/2)

Bloomberg - Alan Wong and Mia Glass

Wed, February 7, 2024 at 4:03 a.m. PST·5 min read

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Foreign individuals and brands regularly come under fire from nationalistic elements in China, with the pushback intensifying in recent years. In 2019 Christian Dior SE, Coach, Givenchy and Versace were criticized for identifying Hong Kong or Taiwan as separate countries from China. Two years later, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief executive officer, apologized after quipping that his bank was likely to outlast China’s Communist Party.

While there’s been no official comment by Chinese authorities, Hong Kong’s government said in a statement authorities and football fans were “extremely disappointed that Messi could neither play in the friendly match nor explain to the fans in person upon request.”

The organizer of the event, Tatler Asia, on Monday chose to forfeit HK$16 million ($2 million) worth of government funding in the wake of the controversy. CEO Michel Lamuniere blamed Inter Miami for what transpired, saying the organizer was told Messi was fit to play at the start of the game. When it became clear he wouldn’t join the game, the team ignored appeals for Messi to address fans, Lamuniere said.

In its first public statement on the fiasco, Inter Miami on Wednesday said it is “sorry” that Messi and his teammate Luis Suárez couldn’t participate in the match. The team said it had waited until the last moments to rule out the players to maximize the chances of them playing.

“We do feel it necessary to express that injuries are unfortunately a part of the beautiful game, and our player’s health must always come first,” the US team said in an emailed statement, adding the club would be eager to return to Hong Kong.

Messi, 36, last played in mainland China in June, when he led Argentina in a friendly match against Australia at a packed Beijing stadium. His team is scheduled to return to China for exhibition games against Nigeria and Ivory Coast in March, according to the Argentine football association.

The match in Japan is the final leg of Inter Miami’s global pre-season tour that’s seen the US club only win one match — their game in Hong Kong.

Inter Miami was established in 2018, making it one of the newer teams competing in Major League Soccer in the US. It was launched with the backing of former Manchester United FC, Real Madrid CF and LA Galaxy star David Beckham, who’s a co-owner.

Messi joined the club last year. Billionaire Jorge Mas, Inter Miami’s managing owner, said in a July interview that its value could reach $1.5 billion within a year.

“In the short term, this ‘PR nightmare’ might hurt the team’s reputation,” said Jan Boehmer, assistant professor of sports management at the University of Michigan. “However, those negative effects are usually short-lived.”

Translation

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外國個人和品牌經常受到中國民族主義因素的攻擊，近年來這種抵制愈演愈烈。 2019 年，Christian Dior SE、Coach、Givenchy 和 Versace 因將香港或台灣視為與中國不同的國家而受到批評。 兩年後，摩根大通執行長 Jamie Dimon 打趣說他的銀行可能比中國共產黨會存在更長久，隨後道歉。

儘管中國當局尚未發表官方評論，但香港政府在一份聲明中表示，當局和球迷「對美斯既無法參加友誼賽，也無法應要求親自向球迷解釋感到非常失望」。

事件發生後，活動的組織者 Tatler Asia 週一選擇放棄價值 1,600 萬港元（合 200 萬美元）的政府資助。 執行長 Michel Lamuniere 將所發生的事情歸咎於國際邁阿密，稱組織者在比賽開始時就被告知美斯可以參加比賽。 Lamuniere說，當事情明確顯示美斯不會出賽時，球隊無視呼籲美斯向球迷發表講話的要求。

週三，邁阿密國際在事情出了問題的首次公開聲明中表示，對美斯和他的隊友蘇亞雷斯無法參加比賽感到「遺憾」。 球隊表示，它已為最大限度提高他們的上場機會, 等待到最後一刻才將球員排除在外。

美國球隊在電子郵件聲明中表示：「我們確實覺得有必要表達出，不幸的是傷病是美麗比賽的一部分，我們球員的健康必須始終放在第一位」; 並補充說邁阿密國際渴望重返香港。

36歲的美斯上次在中國大陸踢球是在6月，當時他帶領阿根廷隊在北京體育場與澳洲隊進行了一場友誼賽。 據阿根廷足協透露，他的球隊計劃在三月返回中國參加對陣尼日利亞和科特迪瓦的表演賽。

日本的比賽是邁阿密國際季前賽全球的最後一站，這支美國球隊只贏了一場比賽 - 在香港的比賽。

國際邁阿密成立於 2018 年，是參加美國職業足球大聯盟的較新球隊之一。 它的推出得到了前曼聯足球俱樂部、皇家馬德里足球俱樂部和洛杉磯銀河隊球星大衛·碧咸的支持，後者也是國際邁阿密的共同所有者。

美斯去年加國際邁阿密。 億萬富翁豪 Jorge Mas、作為邁阿密國際隊的執行老闆在 7 月的一次採訪中表示，其價值可能在一年內達到 15 億美元。

密西根大學體育管理助理教授Jan Boehmer 說: 「從短期來看，這場『公關噩夢』可能會損害球隊的聲譽」。 “然而，這些負面影響通常是短暫的。”

              So, Hong Kong sports lawmaker Kenneth Fok accused Messi and the Inter Miami of disrespecting Hong Kong fans. In China, foreign individuals and brands regularly come under fire for nationalistic reason. Hopefully this PR nightmare for Messi could be over soon.

Note:

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (科特迪瓦) (French: République de Côte d'Ivoire), commonly known as Côte d'Ivoire is a West African country. "Côte d'Ivoire" means "Ivory Coast" (象牙海岸) in French. Before 1985, many places used free translation to call this country: in Hong Kong the Chinese called it "象牙海岸". However, on October 14, 1985, Côte d'Ivoire President Felix Houphouet-Boigny proposed that his country's name should be used as Côte d'Ivoire in all languages ​​without free translation, so in mainland China the Mandarin (Pinyin) is Kētèdíwǎ (科特迪瓦). (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/)