Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, whose team is the reigning FIFA World Cup champion, played an exhibition match alongside his team in Beijing, China, on Friday – genocidal dictator Xi Jinping’s 70th birthday.
Messi’s presence in Beijing has caused chaos around the hotel where he and his team are staying, forcing the cancelation of at least one soccer practice as throngs of thousands attempt to get a look at the player, considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport.
It is the latest in a series of high-profile sporting events organized with the blessing of the Chinese Communist Party to elevate China’s influence in global athletics, the most prominent of which was the hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Chinese government is one of the world’s worst human rights abusers and descended from a universally repressive communist state to a totalitarian, genocidal entity during the decade-long tenure of Xi Jinping. China routinely persecutes any citizen suspected of disagreeing with the government in any way, often disappearing political dissidents into its draconian judicial system with little to no due process. Members of religious communities – whose beliefs defy the official atheism under the Communist Party – face some of the most violent repression, particularly Christians, Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and member of the Falun Gong spiritual community.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi kisses the trophy after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won 4-2 in a penalty shootout. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
In occupied Tibet and East Turkistan, the Communist Party is waging campaigns to eradicate local identity and culture and replace it with Han supremacist communism. The Uyghurs and other Turkic communities of East Turkistan have faced at least five years of genocide fueled by mass imprisonment in concentration camps, forced sterilization and abortions of women, and enslavement of potentially millions of people.
At press time, no reports indicate that Messi has addressed the Uyghur genocide, religious persecution campaigns, or any other human rights abuses by the Communist Party while in China.
Messi did have a bizarre encounter with Chinese authorities at the Beijing airport this week when he attempted to use a Spanish passport to enter the country without a visa. China does not allow visa-free travel for Spaniards – Messi has both Argentine and Spanish citizenship – but Taiwan does. Messi reportedly tried to argue his way in to the country by claiming that Taiwan is part of China and therefore the same rules should apply for entry. Taiwan is a sovereign state totally independent from China, but Beijing falsely claims it as a province; failing to let Messi in would have proven the reality of Taiwan operating independently from Beijing. Airport authorities ultimately resolved the dispute and let him enter.
Athletes face censorship when in China – Beijing explicitly stated it would punish foreign athletes who mention the regime’s atrocities during the Winter Olympics – but this has done little to stop world-class sports icons from tacitly endorsing the regime through visits and collaborations with Chinese regime-approved companies.
Messi is the latest, and arguably most prominent, athlete to tour China. On Thursday evening, his team played an exhibition match in Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium against Australia. While the match occurred on Xi’s birthday, and Xi is famously known to be a major soccer fan, coverage of the event did not explicitly describe Messi’s participation in the event as a birthday present for the dictator.
Argentina is currently considered the best national men’s soccer team in the world following its World Cup victory; Australia is a formidable, but not top-class, team. Messi began the match by marking the fastest goal in his career as an Argentine national team player, scoring at 81 seconds.
To honor the host country, Messi and his teammates wore their traditional white and sky blue jerseys with their names emblazoned on them in Chinese text.
Prior to the match, on Wednesday, Messi addressed Chinese fans during a livestream broadcast on Taobao, a shopping platform owned by the China megacorporation Alibaba, on Wednesday, lamenting he did not have more time to meet with regular citizens.
While the online shopping influencers hosting the show reportedly endeavored to claim that Messi’s presence was not an endorsement of Alibaba or any of its products, the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper noted that Messi used the appearance to praise “warm” Chinese fans and, with his presence, endorse international celebrities visiting the genocidal communist state and working with its corporations. Messi wished Chinese fans a happy Dragon Boat Festival, a holiday celebrated this week, and attempted to speak Mandarin on the broadcast.
“The logos of Avatar, an electric vehicle brand backed by Huawei Technologies Co, and Hengyuanxiang, a clothing and textile supplier, were seen on screen while Messi was talking,” the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, reported, adding that Messi himself did not discuss the Chinese companies while on the broadcast, instead keeping to his own career and soccer experiences.
As China is a communist country, private corporations do not exist there as they do in free states. Chinese companies are compelled by law to cooperate with the regime and often work closely with officials. While Alibaba, previously under the ownership of the now-exiled Jack Ma, fell into disfavor in Beijing following Ma’s mild criticism of Xi in 2021, it has since reestablished itself with Ma far from the halls of power.