A Chinese football fan who invaded the pitch and hugged Lionel Messi during a friendly match between Australia and Argentina in Beijing on Thursday has been placed under "administrative detention," according to Chinese authorities.
The fan, named by police as "Di," is 18 years old and has been barred from accessing sporting stadiums as a spectator for similar games for a year.
Beijing Police did not disclose how long "Di" will be detained, but they did say the fan apologized and accepted his sentence.
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Videos circulated on Chinese social media of the young fan leaping from the stands before racing near Messi, wearing the number 10 shirt, and hugging him. The videos show Messi, who appears stunned at first, stretching out his arms and hugging the fan on the back.
With the crowd cheering, three security guards race after the young fan, the first of whom falls over as he avoids their clutches. After outrunning the other two guards, the fan lifted his hands and high-fived Argentina's goalie Emiliano Martinez. Only after the fan tripped did security catch up with him and take him back to the stands, where he was received like a hero.
For many witnesses, the brief interlude was one of the more exciting parts of an event that piqued Chinese fans' imagination since Messi, 35, arrived in Beijing on Saturday.
Many Chinese social media users, football lovers and not, praised the young fan's race across the grass pitch as a freeing moment.
His bold run through security lines has become a symbol of freedom and youthful vigour in a community still reeling from the agony of three years of Covid restrictions and feeling the pinch of a faltering economy, according to some.
"This kind of running is exactly what is lacking in the increasingly desolate souls of the Chinese people," says the headline of a widely distributed WeChat commentary, later removed.
According to Chinese official media Global Times, tickets to the match at the 68,000-capacity Workers' Stadium, which cost up to 4,800 yuan ($670), sold out in 20 minutes, while touts advertised tickets online for several times their face value.
