A legal expert on Wednesday said the government's plan to establish a new sports arbitration resolution mechanism will help resolve issues such as the Messi no-show saga more quickly and amicably.

Thousands of fans were left angry and disappointed after Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi sat out an Inter Miami football match in the SAR back in February, triggering complaints and calls for ticket refunds.

Nicholas Chan, who heads the AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, said such situations could be eased with the new mechanism in place.

"In Hong Kong, we don't have class action for litigation. And even if we had class action, it's not cheap for thousands of ticket holders to launch a dispute," he told RTHK.

"We could resolve everything quickly by mediation, if not by arbitration. So it saves all the parties the headache of having to try to find the proper forum for dispute, spend a lot of money on resolving disputes by going to courts or otherwise."

International sports arbitration is dominated by Western countries, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland a prominent example.

"But the official working language is French, Spanish, or English. You don't really have much of a choice to use Chinese, Malay, Arabic, or other languages very common in the developing world. So it is not ideal to spend a lot of time and cost where it could be resolved more cost-effectively," Chan said.

The plan is also seen as an opportunity for retired athletes to pursue a second career in sports mediation and arbitration, Chan added.