After fallout in China, Messi insists politics had nothing to do with missing game in Hong Kong [Video]

HONG KONG – Lionel Messi made another conciliatory gesture to fans in Hong Kong and mainland China on Monday by releasing a video on social media to explain why he didn’t play in an exhibition match this month, and insisted that there were no political reasons behind his decision.

Messi disappointed fans in Hong Kong and the city’s government after he remained on the bench during a match between Inter Miami and a local team on Feb. 4. Messi and Inter Miami said he had a groin injury, but the grievances have spread to mainland China after he played for 30 minutes in Tokyo against Vissel Kobe days later.

After the Tokyo game, China’s state-run newspaper, the Global Times, even published an editorial highlighting a “theory” without evidence that suggested Messi’s actions had “political motives” and that “external forces” wished to embarrass Hong Kong.

As criticism ramped up on Chinese social media, the sports bureau in Hangzhou canceled …