Furious fan kung-fu kicks Messi's advertising board as they demand a refund

Furious fans in Hong Kong took out their anger on advertising boards after paying for tickets to watch Lionel Messi, only for the Inter Miami star to remain on the bench.

All 40,000 tickets for the friendly between the MLS side and an Hong Kong XI were snapped up in a matter of hours in December.

Messi featured prominently in the advertising, but fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the Argentina captain in action were left bitterly disappointed on Sunday.

The World Cup winner, who is nursing a hamstring injury, remained on the bench throughout the 90 minutes along with Luis Suarez during Miami's 4-1 win.

It sparked an angry backlash from supporters, some of whom quite literally took aim at Messi.

A video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, shows a fan kung-fu kicking an advertising board featuring a picture of the Argentine star and taking his head off.

Furious fans booed David Beckham, Inter Miami president and co-owner, as he greeted the 40,000-strong crowd at Hong Kong Stadium and thanked them for their 'incredible welcome'.

The Manchester United and England legend was roundly jeered during his speech after fans paid as much as £365 for a glimpse of Messi in action.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's government has demanded an explanation from the organisers as to why Messi did not feature in the game, suggesting it could withdraw £1.6million of funding that helped organise the event.

'The organiser owes all football fans an explanation,' it said in a statement.

'Tatler XFEST, the event organisers, expressed their 'extreme disappointment' that neither Messi nor Suarez took part in the match.

Former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets also did not feature.

'Despite some news reports, Tatler did not have any information about the non-participation of Messi or Suarez prior to kick off,' they said in a statement.

It was reportedly made clear to fans when they purchased tickets that there would be no refunds issued if Messi didn't play.

Miami coach Gerardo Martino said the club's medical team had taken the decision after an assessment on Sunday morning.

'We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo [Messi],' he told reporters.

'We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness.

'We wish we could have sent Leo on for at least a while but the risk was too big.'

The fiasco in Hong Kong comes just days after Messi's brief cameo in a friendly against Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

Billed as the last chance to see the 36-year-old and Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch at the same time, the match proved anything but as the Portuguese did not feature at all and Messi only played six minutes.