It may seem like the dream of every football fan to have dinner, drinks, and a selfie with Lionel Messi while he is in Beijing, but the Chinese authorities have issued a warning that this is only one of several frauds related to his visit.
Swindlers and ticket scalpers have flocked to China in anticipation of Messi’s appearance in a friendly match against Australia in the country’s capital on Thursday. The match is scheduled to take place in Beijing.
A widely shared advertising that purports to provide a night spent in Lionel Messi’s company for the price of 300,000 yuan (about $42,000) has prompted the police in Beijing to issue a caution against falling for the scam.
“If you can be scammed out of 300,000 yuan, we’ll raise a glass to you,” the typically stern Beijing public security bureau joked on the microblogging platform Weibo, which is similar to Twitter.
Other questionable offerings that can be seen on the internet include “internal” stadium passes for the price of 5,000 yuan and a “tailored VIP package” that includes an autographed jersey, front-row tickets, and a picture with Messi for more than 8,000 yuan. Both of these packages are advertised as being available for purchase.
According to yet another unauthorized advertising, for the sum of 50 million yuan, Messi will make a personal appearance on your shopping livestream to laud the benefits of your merchandise.
Messi arrived in Beijing on Saturday and will lead the world champions against the Socceroos in the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, which has just undergone a renovation and now has a capacity of 68,000.
It is a replay of the round-of-16 match that took place at the World Cup in the winter of the previous year, which Argentina won 2-1 and went on to win the overall tournament.
Tickets for the game, which ranged in price from 580 to 4,800 yuan each, were immediately purchased and sold out due to the intense demand from Chinese fans who were eager to see their idol Messi.
Despite anti-scalping efforts such as requiring attendees to provide valid identification in order to enter the stadium, dozens of retailers on the Taobao online shopping site are attempting to resale tickets for as much as 18,000 yuan.
On Saturday, hundreds of spectators could be seen waiting outside the hotel where the Argentina squad was staying in the center of Beijing. One fan told AFP that they had rented a room in the hotel in the hopes of getting a sight of Messi after they were unable to purchase match tickets.
In addition to his upcoming move to Inter Miami, Lionel Messi, now 35 years old and fresh off his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, is scheduled to appear in another friendly encounter on June 19, when Argentina takes on Indonesia in Jakarta.