Commercial match fails locals

Lionel Messi's napping during a press conference is said to be "rude." Photo by Huang Liang

By Huang Daohen

Public napping, a lack of star players and poor match quality disappointed Beijing soccer fans who went to the Bird’s Nest to see last Sunday night’s friendly match between Barcelona and Beijing’s Guo’an.

The Spanish champion finished its Asia tour with a 3-0 win over Guo’an. Argentine superstar Lionel Messi kept his promise and played the entire first half, much more than his 17 minutes in Seoul last week.

Nevertheless, local fans complained that the event was marred by its exorbitant price of admission.

“Not many of my friends wanted to watch the game live,” said Chen Jun, a local soccer fan.

Chen said he didn’t have much confidence in the quality of such a commercialized game. Ticket prices ranged from 280 yuan to 2,880 yuan.

Recent years have seen more low-quality commercial matches as famous clubs look at China as a moneymaking opportunity. In 2003, Real Madrid played four matches in China and reportedly netted about $13.3 million.

The Italian team Sampdoria became the first club to visit China when it came in 1994 and lost 4-2 to the Chinese national team.