Lionel Messi told disappointed fans he felt too much injury 'discomfort' to play for Inter Miami against a Hong Kong League XI - after some even booed his side off out of annoyance.
Messi said it would have been 'very difficult' to feature with his inflamed adductor muscle, despite the Hong Kong government claiming he was contractually obliged to play for 45 minutes.
Fans paid between £99 and £498 to watch Inter Miami win 4-1 at the Hong Kong Stadium and were upset when Messi didn't feature.
David Beckham and his assembly of stars, who hadn't won in 12 games until Sunday, were booed off the field as fans also chanted 'refund!' and gave thumbs-down signs.
Messi said: 'In Hong Kong, we had an open-door training session and I went out because there was such a big crowd there and there was a clinic with the kids, and I wanted to be there and participate.
Lionel Messi explained that he felt too much injury 'discomfort' to play against a Hong Kong League XI
The Argentine was an unused substitute during Inter Miami's 4-1 win, where fans had paid up to £500 to see him play
Hong Kong's sports minister Kevin Yeung (C) said Messi had been contracted to play one half
'But the truth is that the discomfort was still there and it was very difficult for me to play.
'I can understand that people were looking forward to it and I hope that there will be another opportunity for me to play in Hong Kong.'
Miami have a friendly against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on Wednesday and Messi said regarding that: 'I don't know, we'll need to see how it goes in training today. We still don't know if I would be able to or not, but I feel much better than I did a few days ago and really want to be able to play."
Hong Kong government officials were informed that Messi's injury - inflammation of an abductor muscle - would keep him out of the match with 10 minutes to go in Sunday's game.
On Monday, Kevin Yeung, Hong Kong's secretary for culture, sports, and tourism, explained the agreement they had around Messi.
He said: 'One of the key terms of our funding agreement with (organizers) Tatler Asia was for Messi to participate in the match for at least 45 minutes, subject to fitness and safety considerations.'
Yeung added that government officials had been repeatedly told that Messi would play in front of what was a near-capacity crowd of 38,323.
'We immediately requested them to explore other remedies, such as Messi appearing on the field to interact with his fans and receiving the trophy,' Yeung said.
Messi could not confirm whether he would play against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday
Messi trained with his Inter Miami team-mates on Tuesday ahead of the Vissel Kobe friendly
Fans demanded a refund after Messi did not take part in the eagerly-anticipated friendly in Hong Kong
Inter Miami president David Beckham was loudly booed as he addressed the fans in Hong Kong
'Unfortunately, as you all see, this did not work out.'
Yeung warned that up to 16million Hong Kong dollars of public money could be withheld from the organizers.
'We haven't paid any money yet. In the coming weeks we will further liaise with the organizer Tatler Asia. We will discuss the performance of the whole event and we will make a decision on how to deal with the sponsorship.'
Tatler Asia issued a statement late Sunday expressing their 'extreme disappointment' that Messi did not play.
'Despite some news reports, Tatler did not have any information about the non-participation,' it said.
Miami's pre-season tour has been something of a disaster.
The Herons kicked off their pre-season extravaganza with a 0-0 draw away against El Salvador on January 20, followed two days later by a 1-0 defeat against FC Dallas in front of a near-empty Cotton Bowl.
Just 32,211 fans attended the friendly - a third of the capacity of the Texas venue - with large swathes of empty seats seen throughout the stadium.
An advertising cardboard cutout featuring Messi's face was subsequently damaged by a fan
In a disaster pre-season tour, a proposed showdown in Saudi Arabia against Cristiano Ronaldo never materialised
The Portuguese star was sidelined by a hamstring problem and watched from the stands As Al-Nassr beat Inter Miami 6-0, while Messi managed seven minute
While a torrential downpour arguably contributed to the poor attendance, the small crowd led to questions over why the MLS decided to schedule the game at 6pm local time on a Monday evening in January.
Miami then embarked on 7,468-mile flight to Saudi Arabia to face Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr.
Messi and Suarez were both on the scoresheet in the 4-3 defeat by Al-Hilal, but the much-anticipated showdown with his long-time foe never materialised.
Messi managed just six minutes in the 6-0 loss to Al-Nassr. It had been billed as a 'last dance' with Cristiano Ronaldo but the Portuguese star did not play at all.Inter Miami start their MLS season against Real Salt Lake on February 22.