Hong Kong pins revival hopes on Messi after Coldplay, Taylor Swift misses

By Pei Li

Hong Kong is hoping the arrival of Lionel Messi and his US football club Inter Miami this weekend will add some stardust to a city struggling to attract world-class acts and help burnish its damaged global reputation.

The visit by the Argentinian World Cup winner comes after Coldplay and Taylor Swift decided to skip Hong Kong on their Asian tours, choosing rival Singapore instead.

Attempts to create “Messi mania” were evident across the finance hub, with billboards depicting the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in Inter Miami’s pink jersey and an iconic batwing junk featuring the footballer on its sails in Victoria Harbour.

Inter Miami, which is co-owned by David Beckham, will hold an open training session at a stadium in Hong Kong on Saturday and play a friendly against a select local team on Sunday. Other members of the team include Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, Spanish left-back Jordi Alba and midfielder Sergio Busquets.

Despite tickets selling out within an hour in December, local media reported that some holders were offering them at a discount in the run-up to the game amid low demand. They were originally priced at HK$880 to HK$4,880 ($113 to $624).

There are doubts over how much of Messi spectators will be able to see. On Thursday, he only played for the final seven minutes of a game against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr team in Saudi Arabia, where Inter Miami lost 6-0.

Coach Gerardo Martino said in a press conference that Messi, who has a hamstring injury, would play “as many minutes as possible” in Hong Kong, adding that his condition will be assessed during the Saturday training session.

Inter Miami’s visit is part of a series of efforts by Hong Kong officials to create a buzz in the city and boost spending. They face an uphill struggle. Visitor numbers from mainland China are about one-third lower than what they were before Covid, while many residents are choosing to shop and dine in the cheaper neighboring city of Shenzhen on weekends.

Lawmakers last week quizzed Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee over the city’s failure to lure big acts since reopening from Covid Zero. Lee said he and his officials would “work hard” to bring in stars such as Swift, adding that the city needed to do better on major venues.

Part of Hong Kong’s challenge is a lack of facilities large enough to host major global acts. That constraint is expected to ease when Hong Kong’s long-delayed new stadium at the old Kai Tak airport opens later this year with a capacity of 50,000. The old 40,000-seat stadium isn’t used for concerts due to noise complaints from neighboring apartment blocks.

Coldplay just finished a six-night run of shows in Singapore, where they performed in a 55,000-capacity stadium, to be followed by concerts in Bangkok this weekend. Swift’s 2024 global tour includes Singapore and Japan.

Hong Kong’s image of a freewheeling finance hub has taken a severe hit in recent years in the wake of a crackdown on dissent and strict pandemic curbs, which triggered an exodus of residents. The city’s reopening has been marred by China’s economic slowdown and high borrowing costs, with the local property and stock markets plunging.

Hong Kong’s economy grew 3.2 per cent last year, slower than expected and down from an earlier official projection of as much as 5 per cent. Retail sales in December were almost 20 per cent below the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.

The government’s focus on national security is also blunting efforts to restore the former British colony’s international reputation. Inter Miami arrived days after Lee announced a snap one-month consultation for a new domestic security law, which risks creating fresh anxiety for businesses and exacerbating tensions with the US.

Even Inter Miami’s choreographed visit hasn’t gone entirely to plan. In an awkward moment after their arrival on Friday, the team and the coach failed to wait on a stage at the airport to be greeted by government officials, television footage showed. Instead they slowly walked back toward their plane, despite exhortations by the announcer for them to return.

One of the city’s next major international sporting events is the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament on April 5-7. It will be held at Hong Kong Stadium for the last time before moving to Kai Tak next year. Tickets are still available for the typically sold-out event.