Wuyan River Stadium in Haikou, China
Featured image credit: Anna Frodesiak/CC0 1.0/Edited for size
Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Inter Miami CF has today (Wednesday) announced the cancellation of its planned China Tour due to “unforeseen circumstances” in the country.
Inter Miami said the tour promoter, NSN, had informed the club of the cancellation. Today’s news comes just days after the club’s first international tour was reduced to just one match following last-minute amendments.
Inter Miami, buoyed by the impact of recent signing Lionel Messi, announced last month that it would play Qingdao Hainiu FC on November 5 at the 50,000-capacity Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, before facing Chengdu Rongcheng on November 8 at Phoenix Hill Sports Park, which seats over 60,000 fans.
However, the team announced on Friday that the match against Qingdao had been moved to the 41,000-capacity Wuyan River Stadium in Haikou, with the Chengdu leg then cancelled outright.
Inter Miami, which is co-owned by David Beckham, had said that the two matches would tie in with plans to expand its global reach. The profile of the club has increased considerably since eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi joined in July.
The Argentina captain has scored 11 goals in 13 games for the club and his arrival in MLS has seen ticket prices for Inter Miami matches skyrocket.
The club said today: “Inter Miami’s ambition remains to expand its global reach by playing in front of incredible fans from across the globe; the club will continue to explore future opportunities with NSN to achieve this goal.”
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