sport news Inter Miami officially confirm that their planned tour of East Asia is OFF due ... trends now
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Lionel Messi evidently won't be playing in China this month after all.
Inter Miami announced Wednesday that its planned trip to China for a pair of exhibition matches has been called off. The team announced the trip last month, with a pair of games originally scheduled for Nov. 5 and Nov. 8.
It would have been at least the eighth time that Messi - the World Cup champion for Argentina and now an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, after receiving the annual award yet again earlier this week - played in China, and the total attendance for the two planned matches could have exceeded 100,000.
Inter Miami said the reason was 'unforeseen circumstances.' The tour promoter, NSN, said the decision to cancel was out of respect to Chinese officials following the death last week of the country's former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang. He was China's top economic official for a decade.
TyC Sports, a network in Argentina, reported Monday that the trip was called off. The team did not confirm that decision until Wednesday.
Inter Miami's tour of East Asia has been called off due to 'unforeseen circumstances' in China
Messi, fresh off winning his eighth Ballon d'Or, won't be playing in China in the coming
