Tang said it was in the Consumer Council’s power to pressure Tatler to offer the public an explanation, as the organiser was suspected of violating the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

“Picking the legal battle with Tatler is to find out whether a contract signed between Tatler and Inter Miami indicated that Messi must play in the match,” he said.

“If there was no such agreement, then Tatler scammed every Hongkonger.”

Tang revealed complaints had been coming in every hour as public outrage grew after Messi played in Japan after the football legend said he felt “much better” compared with a few days ago when he sat out the game in Hong Kong.

“In the coming week, if Tatler does not issue a refund to more than 40,000 consumers affected, we will file the claims to court to seek justice,” Tang said.

The Global Times on Wednesday night published an opinion piece that said the game in Japan had “amplified” doubts that the Argentine superstar and his team were “treating the country and Hong Kong differently”, which called into question “their integrity”.

It said the explanation Messi and his team offered was “unconvincing for the public” and added many guesses had been made on the “actual causes”.

“One of the theories was that there were political motives behind his behaviour,” the editorial said. “Hong Kong has intended to promote a mega event economy and there might have been foreign forces that deliberately wanted Hong Kong to look bad.

“Judging from the development of the matter, one cannot rule out such a possibility.”

It appealed to Messi to offer “a reasonable explanation” before the Argentine national football team took on China in a friendly in March.

Consultant Lau Siu-kai, of semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said it was difficult to say if the views in the commentary represented Beijing, but that he believed the conspiracy theory would gain popularity.

He said the conspiracy theory was “a reasonable guess” and it might become more “mainstream”, especially as people were not convinced by the team’s explanation.

“It is not the issue of whether Messi was actually injured,” Lau said. “It is about his attitude – it gave off a feeling that he intended to snub Hongkongers and upset them.

“Was he unable to give a speech or accept the trophy because of his injury? He was standing on the side during the photo-taking session. It is possible that he was avoiding the chief executive who is sanctioned by the United States.”

Such discourses might further limit opportunities for Messi and the team in China and Chinese communities, he added.

Lau said the government could consider “keeping a further distance” or take national security into account when handling mega events in the future.

“There were 40,000 spectators at the stadium,” he added. “Many people had spent a lot of money with high expectations and he ended up not playing.

“It is possible that it could have lead to a riot.”

Professor Patrick Lau Wing-chung of Baptist University’s department of sport, physical education and health said Messi performing high-intensity moves, quick turns, passes and shots on Wednesday showed that his injury was not too serious and did not have to keep him off the field during Sunday’s game.

He highlighted sports science and technology in the United States were quite advanced and that they might have been behind Messi’s speedy recovery.

But he said, from a physiotherapy and sports rehabilitation perspective, recovery from injuries preventing an athlete from playing could last for at least one to two weeks.

Lau said the “only explanation” for the “discomfort” Messi had was muscle stiffness, which could be caused by high-intensity training over a long period but it was not equal to an injury.

He added Messi might have also been experiencing burnout and his mental health condition had stopped him from playing.

Messi’s performance on Sunday was “abnormal”, Lau said and pointed out he had been praised over the years for being a team player and not being arrogant.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the city’s top decision-making body, also weighed in on the row.

“Messi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong,” she said on a social media platform. His lies and hypocrisy are disgusting.”

Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu earlier said that authorities would continue to follow up on the incident even after the organiser withdrew an application for HK$16 million (US$2 million) in government sponsorship.

Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, the city’s sports minister, also said that officials had no direct contact with the team but that he understood that the organiser had required the top footballer to play for at least 45 minutes, unless he was ill or injured.

He added, however, that authorities had never seen the contract details.

Tatler Asia said it had always expected the Argentine star and teammate Luis Suarez to take to the field at some point, until it was told by Inter Miami management at halftime that Messi could not play because of an injury.