Bill Tang urges compensation regarding Messi's Hong Kong no-show

Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker "Bill" Tang Ka-piu said that after Lionel Messi's absence from the Hong Kong exhibition match, he has received more than ten requests from people to ask the organizer, Talter Asia, to refund the value of the tickets.

He sent an open letter to the organizer, giving them a week to respond directly to the citizens' demands, disclose more details of the negotiations with Inter Miami, and issue an apology.

Otherwise, affected citizens will be assisted in recovering relevant losses through civil litigation procedures.

The lawmaker also pointed out that all the publicity before the game showed that the Argentine captain would be playing, but in the end, no such arrangement was made.

Talter Asia's publicity was misleading and is suspected of violating the Trade Description Ordinance.

In addition, Messi played in another exhibition game in Japan three days later, which infuriated Hong Kong citizens.

He questioned whether the agreement between the organizer and the Major League Soccer (MLS) club allowed the Argentine World Cup winner to not play or compete unconditionally and without any explanation.

He believes that the organizers have the responsibility to explain this to consumers and fans.

Tang also said that the tickets paid by consumers ranged from HK$880 to HK$4,880, which was far more expensive than similar types of performance events, but the events they watched were not what they paid for or expected, which has seriously damaged the rights and interests of consumers.

However, the organizer only read out a statement without answering reporters' questions during their previous press conference, which left many speechless and unconvinced.

Tang also hopes that the Consumer Council and Customs will speed up the investigation and seek justice for consumers.

The consumer watchdog has so far received 1,178 complaints regarding the match, including 234 from tourists, involving over HK$8.1 million.

(Updated at 7.04 pm)