Messi isn't coming to Vancouver, Whitecaps announce

Lionel Messi won’t be playing at BC Place this weekend, and neither will two of his star teammates. The Vancouver Whitecaps confirmed the disappointing news this afternoon.

In fact, it sounds like they aren’t even flying in.

“While we haven’t received an official update on the availability of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Sergio Busquets for this weekend, we understand they will not make this trip. Unfortunately, we have no control over who plays for our opponent, and it was important for us to communicate to our fans as soon as possible,“ said Whitecaps FC CEO Axel Schuster.

This is devastating news for fans that have shelled out hundreds of dollars for tickets to see Messi play. BC Place is nearly sold out already for Saturday’s match against Inter Miami CF, with a club-record of over 54,000 fans expected to be in attendance.

In an effort to try to make it up to fans, the Whitecaps have announced that all in-stadium food and beverages for the match will be offered at 50% off, and children 18 and under will be provided one free kids meal combo.

“We always want our best players going up against our opponent’s best players, and facing players of the highest pedigree was especially exciting for our team. We know that there will also be a lot of disappointed fans,” Schuster added. “We remain committed to making this a special experience for everyone. It is still going to be an incredible atmosphere and celebration of soccer for our city. We have amazing fans, we have a good team, and Saturday’s match is a very important home game for us.”

Messi missed a mid-week match in Orlando last week with an injury, but it wasn’t very serious. The Argentinian megastar was back on the pitch training a day later, and played 90 minutes for a home match last Saturday.

Miami’s next match is at home to Atlanta on Wednesday. Messi will be competing with Argentina at the Copa America, which includes an opening match against Canada on June 20 and international friendlies before that.

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