Messi breaks silence on no-show as official claims he had a contract to play

LIONEL MESSI admits it was a “shame” to miss another prestige friendly for Inter Miami.

Fans in Hong Kong – and even the territory's government – are furious that Messi was left on the bench for Sunday's match due to a hamstring injury.

Messi said: “Unfortunately in football things can happen in any match that we can get an injury. It happened to me.

“I couldn't play in the Hong Kong match, and that was a shame because I always wanted to participate, I wanted to be there and even more so when it came to these matches.

“When we traveled so far and people were so excited to see our games… I hope we can come back and play another game and I can play like I do whenever I can.

“But the truth is that it is a game in which I have not been able to participate.”

Inter Miami, co-owned by former England and Manchester United star David Beckham, continued their globetrotting pre-season tour by beating a Hong Kong XI 4-1.

But supporters who had paid up to £100 to see Messi play demanded their money back and drowned out Beckham's post-match speech with boos.

And the row isn't over yet, with Hong Kong authorities threatening to withhold up to £1.6 million from organizers Tatler Asia after reportedly learning Messi would not take the pitch just 10 minutes before the final whistle.

Kevin Yeung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hong Kong, said: “One of the key conditions of our financing agreement with Tatler Asia was that Messi would participate in the match for a minimum of 45 minutes, subject to fitness and safety considerations. .

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“We immediately asked them to explore other solutions, such as Messi appearing on the pitch to interact with his fans and collect the trophy.

“Unfortunately, as you can all see, this did not work out.

'We haven't paid any money yet. We will maintain further contact with organizer Tatler Asia in the coming weeks.

“We will discuss the performance of the entire event and we will make a decision on how to handle the sponsorship.”

Earlier this month, fans in Saudi Arabia missed a showdown between Messi and arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo when both legends were unfit for Inter Miami's match against Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in Riyadh.

Messi trained yesterday ahead of the match with Vissel Kobe in Tokyo at 10am UK time on Wednesday.