Scalpers move in as Chinese gold medallist tickets sell out in three hours in Hong Kong

Despite concern that visit could backfire due to growing independence sentiment in city, fans remain eager to see their sporting idols

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The lengthy queue at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 1:00pm, 22 Aug 2016Updated: 11:02am, 23 Aug 2016

Limited tickets for a series of events this weekend featuring China’s Olympic gold medallists were snapped up within a few hours by hundreds of people on Monday, reflecting the enthusiasm in Hong Kong for the chance to see the nation’s top athletes up close.

But scalpers quickly got in on the act, with some of the HK$20 admission tickets found to have been sold online for as much as 1,000 yuan (HK$1,165).

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said it had noted the touting and would hand the case to the relevant authorities according to the evidence available.

Many of those who formed snaking queues at four ticketing venues had started lining up the day before and spent the night waiting before ticket sales began at 10am.

All 5,700 tickets on offer for the public at the official outlets in Central, Tsim Sha Tui, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun were snapped up by 1pm. Another 900 tickets were set aside for groups subsidised by the government.

Olympic fans picked up 2,400 tickets for a gala show, 2,400 for a table tennis demonstration at Queen Elizabeth Stadium and another 1,800 tickets for a diving display. Each person was allowed to buy a maximum of two tickets for two out of the three events scheduled for Sunday at HK$20 each.