Argentine football star Lionel Messi was booed by Chinese fans in Hong Kong. Argentina was due to play two friendly matches in China from March 18 to 26.
The match in Hangzhou had already been canceled on Friday evening. The Chinese newspaper Global Times implied that Messi's behavior may have been "politically motivated" for the sake of the country's strategic interests in the world's second-largest football market, after the U.S. The U.K. has been in the crosshairs of the Chinese government since the passage of a law in 2008.