A message was broadcast in China and caused an uproar: “Pay 300,000 yuan (39,356 euros) for a seat, have a toast by Lionel Messi and take a group photo with the football star.” But this information was refuted on June 5 by the Beijing police, who warned that it was false, a few days before a friendly match between the national teams of Argentina and Australia at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing.
“Are you waiting for Messi to make a toast? If you are scammed out of 300,000 yuan, the policeman will toast you,” police in the Chinese capital wrote in a post on the evening of June 5 on the social media platform Sina Weibo.
The fraudulent message further read, “From a million yuan charitable sponsorship, we can promote your brand and issue press releases.” We will sign a contract to guarantee payment.” Not fooled, Chinese netizens quickly posted replies mocking the ad, asserting that it was clearly false.
The friendly match between Argentina and Australia is scheduled to take place on June 15 at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing. There have already been complaints about the skyrocketing ticket prices, which range from 580 yuan to 4,800 yuan (76 to 630 euros). But such high prices did not dampen the enthusiasm of Chinese football fans, that available tickets were snapped up, as they were all sold out within 20 minutes of becoming available on June 5. The sale of the remaining places should begin on June 8th.
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