(Yicai) March 14 -- Chinese liquor brand Chishuihe has restarted sales of some baijiu products endorsed by soccer star Lionel Messi, which were removed from shelves following a backlash among Chinese fans after the Argentinian forward failed to play a friendly match in Hong Kong last month.

A 500-milliliter Messi-signed bottle of 53 percent Chishuihe liquor was available for CNY1,499 (USD210) on e-commerce platforms JD.com and Alibaba Group's Taobao yesterday. A six-bottle box costs CNY6,600. 

Following Messi's absence from the much-anticipated competition match between his Inter Miami team and a Hong Kong select XI on Feb. 4, Chishuihe, which had only just signed up Messi as a brand ambassador, halted sales of the endorsed products on JD.com and deleted related posts from its Weibo account.

On Feb. 19, Messi took to Chinese social media to say that he had not played in the fixture because of a leg injury.

According to Chishuihe's customer service department at the time, the products were taken down during the lunar new year holiday, with the decision being only partially affected by Messi's absence from the friendly game.

The day before the product relaunch, Messi's old rival Cristiano Ronaldo saw his Al-Nassr team knocked out of the AFC Champions League.

Editor: Martin Kadiev