Lionel Messi’s global tour with Inter Miami has been very messy and a PR nightmare

By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer

TOKYO (AP) — It’s all been very messy. We’re talking about Lionel Messi and Inter Miami’s global tour of exhibition games where the main show has been Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning captain. The matches are about promotion and marketing, hoping to build a new brand by using stars like Messi and Uruguayan Luis Suarez. Instead, the tour is getting mostly bad PR, and results that have not been much better. Through five games, Inter Miami has been outscored 12-7 and won only once. And that was Sunday in Hong Kong, where a 4-1 victory over the local team was overshadowed by angry fans holding up signs demanding a refund and booing since neither Messi nor Suarez played — both apparently out injured.