Chinese cities cancel Argentina games after Messi no-show

China's capital Beijing became the latest city to call off an Argentina friendly on Saturday, as the fallout from star player Lionel Messi sitting out a highly publicized game in Hong Kong last week with injury intensifies. Beijing's football association made the announcement, halting a friendly between Argentina and Ivory Coast, a day after Hangzhou sports authorities also canceled a friendly between Argentina and Nigeria. "Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organize the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate," the Beijing Football Association said in a statement to local media. Why is Messi in Asia, and what's all the fuss about? Messi is touring Asia with his relatively new club, Inter Miami - owned by former England midfielder David Beckham - and his national team for what was meant to be a series of money-spinning friendlies before the start of the Major League Soccer season in the US later this month. The mood soured further still a few days later when Messi was able to come off the substitutes' bench and play the last 30 minutes of a friendly in Tokyo, Japan. This prompted questions on whether Messi had been snubbing Hong Kong - including from some nationalist Chinese politicians and publications - and led to the term "Medical miracle" trending on Chinese social media.