Inter Miami were not far into their 23,000-mile, three-week preseason globetrotting tour when they started to hit bumps in the road. The star-studded roadshow featuring headliner Lionel Messi and his newest support act, Luis Suárez, was supposed to take the world by storm, from El Salvador to Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong, but the exercise has backfired. Several defeats and no-shows from the stars left spectators disgruntled, reputations diminished, and the team, as well as fans back home, unsure of how much they will get from their ageing legends once the MLS season starts.

As the tour reaches its last leg in Japan against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday, before returning to Miami for a game against Newells Old Boys, it will have witnessed boos for David Beckham, a Cristiano Ronaldo dropout, a 6-0 defeat and an almost surreal statement from the Hong Kong government expressing its “deep disappointment” at Messi’s absence.

As many predicted when the dates were released, tens of thousands of air miles on top of games and preseason training began to take a toll on the players. Messi picked up an injury in the first of the games in Saudi Arabia against Al Hilal, and his involvement dwindled from there.

During the most recent port of call in Hong Kong, where Inter Miami faced a vaguely named “Hong Kong Team”, there were boos as franchise owner Beckham addressed the crowd after the game. Fans, and, apparently, the government, had been expecting to see Messi. There was initial disappointment when he was listed only as a substitute but still hope he would make an appearance. He didn’t.

Beckham was one of numerous targets for boos as fans vented their disappointment at the personalities they had arrived to adore, with some supporters asking for refunds. The South China Morning Post described it as “the greatest letdown of all time.” It was later revealed that Miami’s staff had decided on the afternoon of the game not to field Messi at all due to an adductor muscle injury.

“The Government today (4 February) expressed deep disappointment over Messi not playing at Tatler XFEST Hong Kong, Hong Kong Team v Inter Miami CF, and the organiser failing to provide a detailed explanation promptly,” read an official Hong Kong government statement. “The event has been awarded ‘M’ Mark status, as well as a matching grant of 15 million [$1.9m] and a grant for the venue of 1 million [$128,000] by The Major Sports Events Committee.”

The “M” Mark status is awarded to major sports events held in Hong Kong. It is safe to say the only reason to grant such status to a game between the team that finished 27th out of 29 teams in MLS last season and a Hong Kong representative side, was Messi.

“The Government, as well as all football fans, are extremely disappointed that Messi could neither play in the friendly match nor explain to the fans in person upon request,” the statement added. “The way that the organiser and Inter Miami CF handled the situation could not meet the expectations of the fans who showed strong support to Messi, especially those visitors who came all the way here for the match.”

One of the organisers, Tatler XFEST, could have some of its government funding for the event pulled and released a statement expressing “extreme disappointment regarding Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez’s non-participation.”

The tour will probably be a commercial success given the tickets sold and the extra attention Inter Miami has gained. But in terms of growing a positive reputation and promoting Major League Soccer and the club in a positive manner, it has done more harm than good.

Miami’s tour was also designed to be an MLS Season Pass showcase, the league’s streaming package, with Messi at the helm – a promotional whirlwind for the league and its subscription broadcast service on Apple TV+. Inter Miami were the only MLS team to have this stage of their preseason broadcast in such a manner. Initially, this fuelled chagrin from supporters of the league’s other teams, who were already getting fed up with the continued focus on Inter Miami and some of whom wanted to assess their own side’s preseason progress. As Miami’s tour approaches its end, annoyance from fans of other MLS teams at Inter Miami’s favorable treatment has subsided, replaced by schadenfreude.

The tour began in January with games in El Salvador and Dallas which were free to watch on the MLS website. The MLS Season Pass stage of the exhibition landed in Saudi Arabia, building up to a game against Al Nassr tabbed as “the Last Dance” between Messi and Ronaldo. In the end, Ronaldo was unavailable due to injury and Messi appeared for seven minutes plus added time towards the end of the game. This tour highlight was not exactly as billed. Spanish sports newspaper Marca called it a Last Dance Disaster.

In their first game against Saudi opponents, Miami lost 4-3 to Al Hilal. After Messi chose MLS over big money from the Saudi Professional League last year, these games, preseason practice or not, were looked upon as a chance for the North American league to confirm it could compete with the SPL on the pitch as well as off it. The 6-0 loss to the Ronaldo-less Al Nassr was not what they had in mind.

In normal circumstances, preseason games don’t mean anything beyond building match fitness, trying out new tactics and bringing the team together into a matchday routine. In normal circumstances, results don’t matter much. These were not normal circumstances, though. These games were marketed as meaningful. They certainly mattered to the fans forking out huge sums for tickets and travel to see Messi and Co as advertised. The starting price for tickets to the Last Dance was $100, with premium tickets rising to $11,214.

These games didn’t have to be thus. No Inter Miami game does. But for Messi’s time in the league, it appears he will be as much of a marketing tool as he will be an all-time great footballer fans may get the chance to enjoy should they manage to get a ticket for a game.

There is no guarantee any player will start any soccer match. That’s the nature of a physical, competitive sport. It is down to Miami head coach Tata Martino to select a team and manage his roster to get the most out of each player. In a campaign that potentially lasts from February until December, and involves three cup competitions on top of regular season games followed by the MLS Cup Playoffs, players, including Messi, will need to be rested and rotated.

This preseason pantomime may also serve as a caution to spectators looking to attend Inter Miami’s competitive games in the 2024 season. Fans in the United States have already experienced something similar to those in Hong Kong as Messi missed highly anticipated MLS games in Orlando, Atlanta, and Chicago at the end of the 2023 season, as well as the US Open Cup final.

Though Inter Miami are being marketed as the Messi roadshow, they are a working soccer team, with a head coach who will have to make decisions on squad rotation and player welfare. Regardless of status or star power, no player’s fitness can be guaranteed from one game to the next.

You can’t blame Martino for resting Messi when needed. You can’t blame Messi for being human and picking up knocks, especially at his age. You can’t blame the fans for expecting to see Messi when the promotional material from the organisers and the league feature Messi front and center. They are promoted less as Inter Miami and more as Lionel Messi FC, which is in some ways understandable given Messi’s status, but the balance has now tipped too far towards the individual.

Trounced in Saudi Arabia and booed in Hong Kong. Logistically unfair to the players, even though many will no doubt tell stories of it for years to come. Financially unfair to fans who felt they didn’t get what they paid for. This promotional tour backfired, reputationally if not commercially, and the game in Japan will not be shown on MLS Season Pass as initially planned. To say Miami’s preseason tour was a circus would be unfair to the acrobats and clowns.

Messi playing out the final seasons of his career in MLS should be a glorious moment for the sport and its fans to savour, but if lessons are not learned from this preseason parody then that enjoyment will be spoiled.