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Messi all-star match in LA canceled, Chicago match set for Saturday in jeopardy

MessiAtletico (Getty)

By IVES GALARCEP

It was billed as a match featuring Lionel Messi and friends vs. “The Rest of the World”, but an exhibition match featuring Messi set to be played in Los Angeles on Wednesday has been cancelled, and match organizers are blaming Messi.

The exhibition match, set for Wednesday at the LA Coliseum, was announced as cancelled on Tuesday evening, just 24 hours before the LA friendly was to be played, and at the same time that Messi was playing in a similar all-star match in Lima, Peru.

“After hours of trying to convince Lionel Messi’s management team to fulfill their contractual agreement and come to Los Angeles, it is clear they have no respect for these fans and this market,” said Todd Graham, CEO of El Padrino Spirits, a leading sponsor of the event. “We feel that this is a blatant attempt to defraud American citizens and businesses that sponsored this event.”

Sources tell SBI that approximately 45,000 tickets had been sold for the match in Los Angeles, with promotors advising those who had purchased tickets to seek refunds through TicketMaster.

The match was part of a series of friendlies, known as the Messi & Friends charity tour, featuring Messi and a who’s-who of international soccer stars. On Tuesday, Messi led a team of mostly South American stars against a similar team led by Brazilian star Neymar in Peru, just days after playing a similar match in Colombia.

The tour is scheduled to conclude with a match in Chicago on July 6th at Soldier Field, but sources tell SBI that the Chicago match is also in jeopardy now because match organizers are struggling to come up with the requisite number of players to make the all-star match a reality.

The Chicago match has been promoted as featuring Messi as well as players such as Sergio Aguero, Edinson Cavani, Robert Lewandowski and Americans Carlos Bocanegra and Michael Bradley, but sources tell SBI that promotors have had players pull out, leaving the match in jeopardy unless organizers can find enough players to play the match. As of late Tuesday evening, the Chicago match is still scheduled to be played.

The LA cancellation comes amid problems surrounding the organization of the match. Sources tell SBI that the plan was to have Messi and his cast of all-star friends fly from Peru to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and arrive in Los Angeles just three hours before their scheduled match.

Match promotors are blaming the LA cancellation on Messi though, and not on poor planning or logistics.

“We have no words to express our disappointment and frustration,” said Ines Calderon, marketing director of Adriana’s Insurance, another match sponsor. “As a brand we invested many hours of work and thousands of dollars but most importantly, we put our name next to the events name, and in front of our community. We regret sponsoring this event and hope that the authorities penalize whoever is responsible of this mess.”

It should be noted that Messi has yet to comment on the cancelation, but we would imagine a statement will be forthcoming as word spreads on Wednesday of the sudden cancelation and potential cancelation of the all-star match in Chicago.

What do you think of this development? Were you planning to attend the LA match? Think Messi is to blame, or do you think match promotors are the real culprits?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Does he know that people planned vacations and travelled with their kids more than 6 hours to go and watch their “HERO”???. For a family I know, traveling to LA to watch him was their Summer Vacation!! The kids were planning to spend their savings buying Messi’s stuff! . Does he know that the way this family found out was because while traveling from the airport to the hotel on taxi, they drove by the Coliseum and there was a sign on the board saying that the game was “cancelled”. REALLY??? No a warning?? Not a courtesy email!!!!

    Messi…..YOU made people travel over 6 1/2 hrs, book hotels, get kids every excited (ages 4 and 6), plan their Summer vacation around YOU, and then you ended up with nothing but a sad family with kids who cried for hours because they have been waiting for this big day for months and months. Oh wait………… I get it……………..Messi does not care.

    Reply
    • I’m so sorry that this happened to you but your anger is misdirected. The players were all ready and willing to play in this game but the word we’re getting from the players’ side is that the organizers did not fulfill their obligation and it was them who pulled out at the last minute.

      Some quotes from Guillermo Marin:

      “As of today we had not received a cent from the promoters in Los Angeles, not even enough to get the plane tickets to fly.”

      “Lionel Messi has no authority to cancel matches. Messi (and the other 32 players) depend on Imagen Deportiva, who contracts them.”

      “We have not received a cent. They violated the contract 100%. I will travel to LA tomorrow and will show that they did.”

      “The game will be played in Chicago as they have fulfilled their contract, like they did yesterday in Lima [and Medellin, Colombia].”

      “The people at the LA Coliseum and the government of the City Of Los Angeles tried until the last minute to keep this match afloat.”.

      So the LA Messi match was cancelled because the promoter did not fulfill their end of the contract and didn’t pay money. According to a statement made by Live, the sponsors backed out of the event last minute. All parties involved in Messi and Friends game will meet up in Miami on the 10th of July to reschedule that event. The match will happen in future, just not now.

      The media has been saying “Messi cancelled the match” when he did no such thing. His job is to show up and play. He’s not in charge of any part of the formal, behind-the-scenes organization of the match. I’m not sure if they’ll refund you for tickets or you’ll keep them and use them for the rescheduled match. Just keep them until we get official word and then we can take it from there.

      Spread the word.

      Reply
      • No sponsor back out at the last minute. Each and every sponsor was there setting up signage at the stadium up until the the game was cancelled at 5:30p Wednesday. Promoters and Messi are and will continue to pull the wool over your eyes.

  2. He knew what he was doing. Lost respect for him as a person it his fault as well as the promoters they had to sit down at one point to discus finances as well as scheduling and players. I don’t think they just called him and told him “hey you have a tournament coming up be ready” that’s not the way it works. So all of the messi worshiping fans out their sorry but its his fault after all he pulled the plug because he was going to be “tired” which maybe he was but its a friendly not the World Cup even if he would’ve played at 80% and at least 45min that’s still would’ve been enough for the fans. It’s all about commitment which in this case he did not have. Going forward I will not support him in another of his tournaments nor will my family and friends after spending $900+ on tickets which I was very excited since they were good seats. A sad day in the beautiful game of futbol

    Reply
    • A) Messi never said he was “tired” B) he says he was looking forward to the game ie. he was planning on going forward with it. You don’t have to support him in future, your reasons are your own, but it would be nice if you checked your facts and not pluck things out of thin air.

      A poster above quoted Messi’s facebook post about why it was cancelled (poor management), take a look THEN respond. Another poster also mentioned that the company that’s ‘enraged and upset’ doesn’t have a website & possibly doesn’t exist. Is that Messi’s fault too? Jumping to conclusions is a dangerous thing to do. Hear both sides, then form an opinion.

      Reply
  3. To those who were going to go down on…I mean go watch Messi play tomorrow I am now going to laugh in your face.

    “After hours of trying to convince Lionel Messi’s management team to fulfill their contractual agreement and come to Los Angeles, it is clear they have no respect for these fans and this market. We feel that this is a blatant attempt to defraud American citizens and businesses that sponsored this event,” said Todd Graham – CEO, El Padrino Spirits, Inc.

    I’ve said it before way too many times, Barcelona in not a team name its the city where the team plays…STOP GIVING YOUR MONEY TO PEOPLE/TEAMS THAT DON’T CARE ABOUT THE U.S. AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SOCCER TEAM!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • You’ve been scammed, sir.

      http://vincentcbao.en.ec21.com/

      That is El Padrino Spirits, Inc. website. It’s not a real place. That “company” doesn’t even have a website. Yet some guy comes out of nowhere with a press release accusing Lionel Messi and Adidas of thousands of counts of felony fraud and you just accept it?

      Reply
    • As a guy who supports US soccer from MLS on down to the PDL and NPSL, NWSL to W-League,NCAA, etc–get your point about supporting your local clubs.

      Having said that, you come across as kicking a guy when he’s down.

      Just because neither you nor I would have ever bought a ticket for this type of match (we probably wouldn’t have gone if we were offered free seats right behind the players’ benches)–laughing at other people’s misery–even if it’s a financial loss that they can ultimately absorb.

      That’s harsh. Really, really harsh. Not puttin’ you down or anything–just responding to your comments. I sincerely hope that you never get victimized by inept/fraudulent event organizers.

      Reply
  4. Don’t think it was Messi’s job to get all the players together. Last year they played similar matches but it was organized by Adidas (Messi’s sponsor). He was given a list of players, also sponsored by Adidas, that he could pick from and it was their job to round up the teams. This time around there’s been a mix of players (eg: one of Messi’s best friends, Kun Aguero, is sponsored by Puma and played in Colombia & was going to play in LA).

    I believe it was a similar situation, “give us a list of who you want, ask those closest to you and we’ll take care of the rest”. The players showed up in Colombia and Peru when he asked them to, why wouldn’t they now? I believe Pinto (and Mascherano?), for example, is (was) going to play in all 4 games games.

    Reply
  5. Messi just confirmed that they are in fact playing in Chicago, and that the match promoters were so bad that they had to pull 5 kids from Northwestern’s varsity team to complete the roster.

    Reply
  6. Flew from Portland to LA… Surprising my 8 year old boys. Tears and more tears. Thx to everyone that in it just for money. Explain THAT to my soccer living, Messi adoring boys. What a joke.

    Reply
    • You are the person I feel the worst for. No explanation will make sense to your son.

      As a glass-half full kind of guy, ill just say, at least you’re in LA, could be stuck in worse places, but that’s not gonna do much to ease the sting.

      Reply
    • Bro, I’m really sorry to hear that you were one of the people who have suffered hardship over this.

      After the somewhat similar incident took place between Sr. Messi and the promoter and sponsors in Puerto Rico that I referenced here in a previous comment, I’d warn anybody planning to travel in order to attend one of these events that they don’t.

      I’m not blaming anyone specifically because I don’t know exactly what happened; what I do know is that this is unfortunately a recurring theme when it comes to this type of charity match involving him. Nor am I making excuses for Messi or anyone else.

      Maybe he needs better management.

      It’s a real shame that your family and others like you got caught in the middle of this mess.

      Reply
  7. I laugh at the people that bought tickets to this. Want to see a good game? Go watch Chivas USA. That is real entertainment. Chivas USA may not be the best team and you don’t have to root for them, but can anyone say their games are boring. Anything but boring in my view.

    Messi and Friends sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon.

    Reply
  8. If all the players managed to go and play in Colombia and Peru without any problems, why is there an issue now? What changed? The organizers? Do all four games have the same sponsors and organizers?

    He just posted on facebook that he’s disappointed with the organizers and they’re saying it was his management’s fault. So what’s the truth then? This whole thing was frown-inducing from the start, as others have already attested.

    Reply
    • It depends what he’s disappointed about. If he’s upset about a schedule he agreed to, it might have been unwise or greedy by the promoters but it’s his job to fulfill the schedule.

      Reply
      • This is what was posted on facebook:

        Leo Messi

        “Disappointed by the management of the charity match in Los Angeles. I really wanted to be there and enjoy as I did in Peru and Colombia. This project is made for the fans, and that’s why I’m very disappointed with the organization. A big hug to those who were going to support this cause at L.A. Memorial Coliseum and thank you all for your support.”

        So…take from that what you will. I’m thinking he genuinely wanted (and was going) to fulfill his side of the deal. Then something obviously happened or changed. Until both parties come out and say what it was exactly, we’ll be stuck speculating. And it’s the fans lose out the most in this whole situation.

      • There is an article posted above that describes Messi being upset about an altercation in Peru. The article is in Spanish. From it, it says that Messi decided to cancel the game. The worst part is that it was for charity. Only those benefitting from it and the fans lose here.

  9. In a longer-term sense, this scam/failure hurts future charity all-start soccer games in this country where the fan base is still growing. Unfortunately, some casual fans will associate this negative experience with the sport, in general.

    Reply
  10. There was a similar type controversy when it was announced by a promote that she was going to bring Messi to Puerto Rico a couple of years ago. It was a mess but nowhere near as big as this one because no tickets had been sold yet. Both sides threatened legal action against the other. In the end, the whole thing just disappeared. The promoter was the same lady who successfully engineered the Puert Rico-Spain friendly last year. Maybe it looks like the people who were doubting her side of the story might possibly want to reconsider, given what has taken place, here in the US.

    Reply
  11. This thing was a cash grab from the get go. Going to any of these summer tour things is as good as flushing your money down the toilet anyway. Soccer is a game about passion, so unless you are paying to see games with a purpose (yes even MLS haters!), then you deserve to have your wallets empties by these would be conquistadores.

    Reply
    • It’s because you are privy to all the relevant facts in the case to be able to say such a thing with confidence, isn’t it? The tax issue has no baring on this situation so why you feel the need to bring it up seems a bit nonsensical. Anyway, hope the game in Chicago happens without a hitch.

      Reply
  12. What i find hard to understand is why are people spending money to even watch a crappy pick up game were each side allows each other to score whenever they feel like it, Where is the fun in that, and why are they even paying money for that??

    I’m argentinian and obviously follow messi but I wouldn’t even bother with spending a dime on these “games”…..are we that desperate to watch millionaires play a pick up game?

    We’ve got MLS support that and forget about this scam. The players themselves normally don’t care.Invest in your local team and league.

    Reply
    • The chance to see Messi (or someone’s favorite player) is the draw. The quality of the match is mostly immaterial.

      Reply
    • +1,000,000 Full respect! More people bought tickets to this silly game that won’t be played than to Fire-San Jose game and the Galaxy-Columbus game

      Reply
      • I do attend random Chicago/Chivas USA matches all the way out at Toyota Park as a Chicago resident and I’m not even from Chicago.

        However, it’s not every day you get a chance to see the greatest player to ever play up close and live. Hell, there’d be a solid market to simply watch an actual practice, I imagine.

        You and Frank from SF shouldn’t assume that people attending this match are muppets or don’t support their local product. One *could* argue paying to watch a glorified scrimmage highlights how passionate the people are for the game, not how poor of a fan they are for their local club.

    • Amen. It is theoretically nice to see some good team or star play some time here but you are not funding US soccer teams and development, you are furthering the gap we are trying to close by probably handing CFC or Man U more for a ticket and/or jersey than you’d give MLS or US Soccer. I may grumble some about my local MLS team, and wish it ran its show a little different, but I show up live a few times a year.

      [For consistency’s sake, I also don’t tend to attend our MLS friendlies.]

      Reply
    • The same reason people pay to watch the NBA, NHL or MLB all-star games..

      All-Stars!! I get what you’re saying about supporting the local game and US Soccer, but the opportunity to see all of those stars, even in a practice setting would be a great experience. I doubt anyone bought a ticket to “Messi and Friends” expecting to see crunching tackles and great defense. People want to see tricks and goals, just the same like they want to see alley-oops during NBA all-star game, no ones interested in watching someone hustle back to stop a fast break in those games.

      Again, I get your point, but as someone who doesn’t have a “local” team, I’d much prefer to see these guys practice. (Except Portland or Seattle, still trying to make a trip up there for the atmosphere)

      And I wouldn’t read that as I’m a euro-snob because I watch MLS weekly (which also bothers me that I can watch more English broadcasts of Liga Mex than I can of MLS)

      Reply
      • +10. I have Two babies under 2 and a 8-5 job with little vacation. I cannot go to Brazil or Spain at the drop of a hat. I have little to no prospect of ever seeing live the (perhaps) greatest player to ever put on cleats play in a “real game” at least not in his prime. For people like me, who love the game, it’s cheezy friendlies or nothing. I support MLS and am deeply appreciative of how much the league has grown in the last decade. But there’s a difference between following and supporting a local league of middling quality consistently, and trying to get a fleeting glimpse of greatness, even if it’s not an ideal game situation. Let’s not throw stones at the only window some of us have to that world.

      • Fair enough WhiteHart, everyone is entitled to do whatever they want with their hard earned money. I’ve never been one to watch any of those all star games. Ballers are going to do it when it matters and that to me is way more fun than watching them do it on some platform that’s design to take your money while they go through some practice drills.

        All good…different strokes for different folks, i guess.

      • Ultimately I agree that guys always try harder when it matters, I was just playing devils advocate as to why someone would want to attend.

        Always nice to have respectful comments/dialogue on the Internet (sometimes I loose faith that it can happen).

    • +10000 people who buy these kind of events are suckers! sure if these all stars were going to play pick up in my town I would go watch but I wouldn’t pay for it! I wouldn’t go pay to watch them do their laundry or lift weights in the gym either! and please don’t even think that the “charity” in the title means anything!

      there is plenty of real soccer going on in Lima, Columbia, Chicago and LA… probably a lot cheeper too.

      Reply
    • Are you serious Frank From SF et al.? Do you really think an 8 or 9 year old with Messi posters all over cares that this is a “real game”? Do you really think little kid is going to say, “You know, I’d rather go to an MLS game because we need to put more money in the MLS and going to this game instead of the LA Galaxy game won’t be financially supporting our league here”?

      If I were a kid, I would be begging my parents for a chance to be there.

      People go to this to see players that they would otherwise never have a chance to see (see Marcelo’s post). If those people go there expecting a competitive match, then yeah, I agree…they are suckers. But if they are going for their kids or just for the fun of it and to see Messi score a hat trick or whatever, why does it matter?

      Reply
      • I’m sure you’ve been to games where there are 8-9 yr olds, and their attention span last 20 maybe 30 minutes, afterwards they can care less what’s going on…lol… All good buddy, as i said earlier, everyone is entitled to do whatever they want with their hard earned money….carry on,enjoy.

      • All good! I hear you about the attention span having been an elementary teacher a few years ago!!!! I was just saying that if I were a kid (and the kids I’ve taught in the past) would absolute love to be at this “game”.

  13. I feel bad for the fans who were going to attend the game from out of state. They probably spent a lot of money on hotels, gas, airfare, etc. Also people who bought tickets from scalpers. Do places like stubhub give refunds.

    Reply
      • stubhub claims they refund purchases for fraudulent or cancelled tickets but I can not imagine it is an easy process.

        there have been tickets for the next few qualifiers up there for a while now, the fact that they allow phony tickets to be posted just shows what kind of business they allow..

  14. I found a mention of it!

    It took awhile, but there’s a graphic on the official lionel messi facebook page from a few days ago. It is the only reference to there even being a match in the USA.

    No word from Messi or any of the other players on a cancellation. Only thing we’ve got is a ranting, crazy press release.

    Reply
  15. I am highly skeptical that the match in Chicago will be played. Crain’s Chicago had an article a few days ago on how only 20,000 tickets had been sold for a 70,000 seat venue. They are now offering upper bowl tickets at $28 which is about 50% cheaper than the cheapest tickets being offered.

    Reply
    • wait, they actually got 20k people to pay 55-200 bucks a ticket to see a bunch of (admittedly talented) players half-ass through a scrimmage? I’d say that’s impressive on its own.

      Reply
  16. Team Messi (official adidas messi community responsible for much of his public work) has been covering all the Messi and Friends events in serious depth.

    Going back–they’ve not made a single mention to anything in the United States. Not a single word about any of the events from Adidas or Messi himself. They’ve had all sorts of stuff about the Colombia and Peru matches going back several weeks.

    Reply
    • …though I’ll have to say that’s more advertisement than I’ve seen from the Fire this year. (not counting the ads that play during halftime of fire broadcasts on My50 and UniMas)

      Reply
  17. Is there another sports league in the world besides MLS that has to compete with hucksters involved in the same sport like this in the middle of their season?

    Reply
  18. Is anyone else looking at this and wondering who the real scam artists are? Because I don’t believe for a second that a full match worth of professional players all of which would be on their way to this match are suddenly not playing and we haven’t heard a word?

    Haha. Righttttt. This thing was a scam. The website isn’t even real. Someone stole language from somewhere else and babelfished it. I found the video SanFran mentioned. Ridiculous.

    I hole Messi takes them for every penny and shame on people who mindlessly throw money at something that was so clearly not legitimate. Even if it was billed as a chance to see Messi

    Reply
  19. Almost definitely the promoters to blame. Great shame that these guys couldn’t get it together. These are world class athletes and once in a life opportunity to see these great players in LA. With cowboys like this organizing things, no wonder US still can’t get soccer traction in the states. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I bought expensive tickets along with the ridiculous service charges for me and my two sons who both play and whose bedrooms are covered with Messi posters. I almost missed knowing about it and heard about almost by accident. You should have heard the whoops of joy when I told them we were going. My little one has been selling lemonade so he’ll have some spending money. Very somber mood in the house right about now and I’ve got to figure out how to get over $300 back.

    Reply
  20. The LA event was VERY poorly marketed and not done so in a professional manner. The website’s English version was a very rough translation which easily could have come from Google translate, there was basically no promotion through the basic marketing channels you’d expect there to be, and 45,000 tickets only sold is a sign it was on thin ice to begin with.

    I was looking at the calendar a week after purchasing my tickets and noticed the tight scheduling, then the pre-season start for la Liga.

    It was doomed from the beginning by the organizers lack of logistical and marketing capabilities.

    Reply
    • “The LA event was VERY poorly marketed and not done so in a professional manner.”

      For what it’s worth, aside from a random mention during a Confederations Cup match, I had no idea there was a match here in Chicago.

      Reply
  21. I believe that this Lionel Messi and friends vs “The Rest of the World” exhibition was shoddily planned from the get go. I feel sorry for the fans from LA and Chicago. It sounds like Messi and his entourage were just randomly calling players to participate….

    Reply
    • It’s a 10 hour flight from Peru to LA, right? Anyone know where Messi is now? He might not even know this game was cancelled, since the game in Lima ended just over 6 hours ago. He might land in LA still expecting the game to go ahead as planned. That would be awkward…

      Reply
      • LOL. I don’t know. Only seen pics of him surrounded by people at the airport, have never seen the plane. He’ll just get more time to sight see before the game in Chicago.

      • There is an article posted above in Spanish that says Messi was upset about a mild altercation that happened in Peru. His being upset made him decide to cancel the flight to the US. Sounds like a moody decision to me. He has officially lost my respect.

    • Leo Messi posted in his facebook page :”Disappointed by the management of the charity match in Los Angeles. I really wanted to be there and enjoy as I did in Peru and Colombia. This project is made for the fans, and that’s why I’m very disappointed with the organization. A big hug to those who were going to support this cause at L.A. Memorial Coliseum and thank you all for your support.”

      Reply
  22. I would’ve been concerned that event would be cancelled when they are playing the day before on another continent.

    I know the organizers are blaming Messi, but seriously, how could someone plan 2 games so close together in places so far away.?

    Reply
    • Makes you wonder if there ever was a match–and since all we’ve heard is a blatant attempt to drum up pro-American sentiments accompanied with wild accusations of fraud.

      I mean honestly, they just accused Lionel Messi of intent to defraud to the tune of millions of dollars. Publicly. I’ve got a bridge for anyone who believes that.

      Reply
      • To play devil’s advocate… Messi just settled millions and millions in tax debt…

      • Exactly, he was wrongly advised by accountants on his sponsorship earnings, and immediately paid something like 10 million euros back taxes in Spain. Instead of arguing about it or taking it to court.

        I am worried about Messi doing this crap off-season instead of relaxing on a beach somewhere, he has a newborn son. Why not enjoy him and get ready for next season instead of doing these useless games?

    • I guess I can see what you’re trying to say but c’mon now, have you ever heard of tournaments? You play back to back games.. we also can’t be treating them like little babies because they’re all in pretty fantastic shape and more than capable to play 2 games

      Reply
      • They do play games in a short time, but I haven’t heard of an international tournament ever scheduling games on consecutive days, and certainly not on two different continents. The shortest turnaround I’ve ever seen in a FIFA tournament is 48 hours.

      • This is a running complaint of mine, people are buying tickets to a summer cash grab friendly and then are surprised it sometimes doesn’t deliver what was hoped. If you want to be sure you see that player you like playing for 90 or so like he means it (ditto team), buy an official game ticket.

      • Absolutely agree that these players “could” play the game, but it should be pointed out that this is a summer “friendly”.

        I just can’t believe that the promoters would try to schedule it today vs Thurs/Fri and it’s even harder to believe Messi even knew about it/signed off on it.

        I can believe his “people” we’re over zealous and agreed, but common sense would’ve stopped me from buying a ticket in the first place.

      • Messi did know about it. There is an amateur promotion video for the event in which Messi welcomes fans, in Spanish, to the game at the LA Colisseum on July 3rd. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, both Messi and the promoters have lost my respect, especially after reading the article posted in a comment above about the altercation in Peru. Sounds to me like he is acting like a divo.

      • Yes, he knew about it. Please scroll down to my reply to Caroline that has a few more details about this debacle. I don’t want to post it twice as it might amount to spam. (*Organizers at fault, not the players.)

  23. Friend of mine involved with Herbal Life in LA is billing this as a scam–but not one orchestrated by Lionel Messi–one orchestrated by these “promoters.”

    If you have a chance–go find the “teaser” video they released for the LA match. It includes stolen footage from Nike, grammatical mistakes and is downright amateur to say the least.

    The Chicago event doesn’t even have enough players signed on to hold the match. Is Lionel Messi even aware he was supposed to play back to back full matches on top of a 10 hour plane ride that would see him play 3 hours after landing?

    Haha. Sure. I was born at night. Not last night.

    I predict a libel lawsuit of EPIC proportions coming the way of that “public relations” firm. Someone should teach them a thing or two about effective crisis public relations–because that press release violates so many basic rules of pr competency.

    Reply
    • I’m interested whose responsibility it was to round up players. If the promoters were responsible for a site and selling tickets and ads, and he agreed to a schedule and was responsible for bringing Friends to fulfill the schedule, it’s his breach if he can’t gather enough people to fulfill a date for which he’s probably already been paid.

      Conversely, if his only job was to show up and the promoter was actually rounding up Friends, it’s their problem.

      The schedule is what it is and presumably he or his people agreed to it at some point only to figure out it was practical insanity. But that’s not unlike a rock band that agrees to an over-ambitious tour and the lead singer wrecks their vocal cords and the drummer overdoses, etc. The correction, as I was reading about with a rock band in Rolling Stone the other day, is you build in some off time to the tour and don’t over-commit. Surely Messi has the power in this to say, I can’t promise 4 games in less than a week right after Confed Cup. Either that, or he/agent is so eager to cash in they’re not thinking through his commitments. Tax issue and such?

      Reply
  24. Match organizers… But also Messi’s camp for agreeing to play a match a day after playing in Peru. I for one am hoping they are able to keep the Chicago date.

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    • “the plan was to have Messi and his cast of all-star friends fly from Peru to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and arrive in Los Angeles just three hours before their scheduled match.”

      So much fail there.

      Reply
    • With Ives ok i would like to put up a link for the suppose reason of what happened…..it’s in spanish. sorry don’t have time right know to translate but here it is….

      Por órden de Fabio Capello, el técnico italiano que estaba dirigiendo al equipo de Lionel Messi, la Policía peruana echó a los hermanos de Leo, al papá del brasileño y a los hijos de Mario Yepes del banco de suplentes al inicio del segundo tiempo. Por los malos tratos, se armó un altercado entre los policías y los familiares, a los que no les consiguieron lugar.

      Messi se enteró del incidente y pidió el cambio inmediatamente. Al salir del campo de juego, se retiró del estadio y fue directamente al hotel, sin pasar por las duchas. Más tarde, canceló su viaje hacia Estados Unidos, donde el miércoles iba a jugar otro amistoso en Los Angeles, con 50.000 espectadores en el Memorial Coliseum. No fue el mejor cierre para la gira del crack rosarino… “Los únicos perdedores son los fans que deseaban ver el partido”, declaró Ralina Shaw, vicepresidente de El Padrino Sports, una de las empresas que sponsorea el evento.

      Link:http://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-internacional/hicieron-enojar_0_949105292.html

      Reply
      • It sounds like an altercation took place in Peru, and it disturbed Messi. As a result of that, along with poor organization, he decided it was best to cancel the L.A. match. The Chicago match still appears to be a possibility…

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