About 15,000 students, athletes and grassroots families will get to see legendary Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates practicing at Hong Kong Stadium on February 3 before their exhibition match against a Hong Kong team the following day.
Fans can also watch a live stream of the match on free-to-air television networks on February 4, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung revealed yesterday.
Yeung said the administration provided the organizers with HK$16 million through the M Mark event subsidy scheme and a venue hiring grant.
"There will also be 15,000 free tickets to watch the Inter Miami open training session before the friendly match on February 3 that will be given to local students, teenagers, young athletes, para-athletes and grassroots families," Yeung said.
Yeung hopes Inter Miami's visit will inspire young athletes in Hong Kong and ignite their passion for pursuing sports dreams.
"Inter Miami chose Hong Kong as one of the stops for its first Asia tour, which shows the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a center for major events in Asia," he added.
Yeung also said people need not worry even if they failed to buy a ticket to the February 4 match. All the tickets were taken within an hour of sales opening on December 15, despite prices ranging from HK$880 to HK$4,880.
"Those who were unable to snatch tickets to enter the stadium on that day can watch the live broadcast of the match on a free-television channel," Yeung said. The match will also be broadcast by NowTV.
Hong Kong Football Association chairman Eric Fok Kai-shan said: "Inter Miami's visit will allow Hong Kong football enthusiasts to watch international superstar Messi and Jordi Alba play up close."
Hong Kong team head coach Jorn Andersen will be managing the team for the friendly match.
Fok said he hopes the team will be playing with the best possible squad under the leadership of Andersen.
Organizers will arrange two special sessions where Hong Kong team players and some of the Inter Miami players will meet and interact with Hong Kong youth players.
Talks are continuing with organizers to arrange another open training session on the morning of match day, Fok said.
A spokesman for the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said the government is working with the official charity partner of the match organizer and various National Sports Associations and non-governmental organizations to distribute the tickets for the opening training session on February 3.
Three Hong Kong league players who are shortlisted for the game said they will be fighting for Messi's shirt after the match.
But the three - Southern FC winger Mahama Awal, 32, Kitchee midfielder Mikael Severo, 30, and midfielder Ngan Cheuk-pan, 25, currently playing for Sham Shui Po - will have to be chosen for the final squad in the match in order to do so.
Ngan said: "I'm so thrilled and looking forward to the match. This is the first time for me to play with a foreign team in front of a full Hong Kong Stadium. I hope I will be selected to play.
"My friends and I all screamed when we watched Messi win the World Cup final, and I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to see him up close and even play on the same pitch with him."
Severo said: "I hope the Hong Kong team can score first in the game, while I'm also looking forward to playing in front of a stadium full of Hong Kong fans."
Inter Miami, a US team led by eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi and former Barcelona teammates Alba and Sergio Busquets, will be playing against a selection of Hong Kong's top players.
The February 4 match marks the first-ever international and Asian tour for the club co-owned by English football legend David Beckham.
michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com
