The eternal rivalry comes to Beijing

Inter Milan’s 3-1 victory over Serie A counterpart Palermo has filled the final spot for the other participant in this summer’s Italian Super Cup, which will be returning to Beijing. This year’s curtain-raiser to the 2011/12 Serie A season is going to be a treat for Chinese supporters of Italian football as this season’s champion AC Milan will take on their eternal rivals for the first time on the Asian continent.

The Milan derby has always been one of the most highly charged and most anticipated matches on the Serie A schedule. The history between the two Italian giants reads like a movie with action, drama, comedy and suspense all rolled into one. If Halley’s Comet is only visible from earth every 75 years, then Chinese supporters will be in for a treat this summer for this is one of the rarest events to occur outside of Italy.

While football fans in China maybe foaming at the mouth to see their heroes such as Brazilian international Pato and midfield enforcer Gennaro Gattuso do battle against Dutch international Wesley Sneijder and Cameroonian international Samuel Eto’o, officials at the China Football Association and those with the task of organizing this event have to be very concerned about one thing: how to prevent the rampant scalping of tickets for this match.

Gattuso and Sneijder

When the final whistle blew in Rome, every ticket scalpers dream came true. There probably has not been this much excitement for a sporting event since the 2008 Olympic Games. Nearly three years ago, ticket scalping was at a fever pitch from the opening ceremony and selected events around Beijing.

Being one in the mass of people who went to see the United States in the men’s basketball competition at Wukesong, I was met by throngs of scalpers at the subway entrance just looking to sell me a ticket. Perhaps there were even a few who wanted to buy my ticket in order to sell it for a higher price later.

Now, ticket prices for the Italian Super Cup range from 200RMB up to 4,000RMB. According to the organizers over half of the tickets will be under 1,000RMB. It is needless to say that tickets for this once in a lifetime event will sell out, however, how much will scalpers be able to make off with after re-selling the tickets later? Also, have organizers come up with any measures to make sure that tickets are only being sold to those who want to see the two Italian giants clash?

Just this week a new policy was implemented which requires passengers on China’s high speed trains to show identification in order to purchase a ticket. The objective is to prevent ticket scalping, which has been a serious problem for the railway system, especially during the Spring Festival period when hordes of people make their long treks back home.

Perhaps this could work for major sporting events that come to China. You get the true football fans in the stadium on match day with a ticket with their name on it. Anyone else holding the ticket with hopes of entering gets questioned. It also prevents the scalper from re-selling the ticket for higher than its face value.

However, this could also be a turn off for some people as going through the process of showing their identification to buy a ticket could be an inconvenience. Also, the ticket could be deemed worthless if they are not able to go to the match in the end. Would they be able to refund the ticket?

Organizers can expect to make a profit from this year’s cup tie between AC Milan and Inter. However, if there are no measures taken to prevent ticket scalping, the true winners will be the scalpers themselves.

Internazionale players wearing "Pirelli" in Chinese on their jerseys

Italian tyre maker Pirelli becomes the new CSL title sponsor this Friday after signing a three-year sponsorship deal with Chinese Football Association. “We’re satisfied with Pirelli’s offer and their brand will help boost CSL’s image,” said Zhang Lu, vice president of Beijing Guo’an club, who helped facilitate the deal. The deal was reportedly worth 5 million euros (US $ 6.78 million) yearly but details remain undisclosed by the two parties.

Pirelli is the primary sponsor of the Italian football club Internazionale, or Inter Milan. The company launched a plant in China’s Shandong province in 2005 for the production of radial truck tyres. Since then, Inter players had begun to wear jerseys with “倍耐力” – Pirelli’s name in mandarin Chinese – four times each season to better market the Italian brand. “The world, as we know, is suffering an economic crisis but we are very optimistic about China’s situation,” said Giuseppe Cattaneo, CEO at Pirelli Tyre China Co. Ltd.

Chinese Super League is back on CCTV this year, after a three-match ban since last November for on-field fighting and club withdrawals caused by FA’s poor management. The league suffered greatly all these years by match-fixing, bribing and underground gambling. CFA told press early this month that judiciary professionals will join its regulatory bureau to help clean up cancers in the league.

The new 2009 seasonn of CSL will begin from today on March 21.

Photo: inter.it

Previously:

• Horse Lottery, Gambling and Chinese Football
• Chinese Super League Unbanned by CCTV
• Beijing to Stage International Football Festival This Summer

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