Agent fouls fans' trip to Anfield
Soon (centre) with Xin Jun (right) and Xin Jun’s uncle Cheng Joo Seng during the press conference at the Southern Chinese Press Club in Johor Baru.
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JOHOR BARU: Die-hard Liverpool fans Cheng Xin Jun, 32, and his uncle have realised their cherished dream of travelling to Anfield to catch Liverpool in action.
But not without enduring extra pain – in their pockets!
The round trip last December was supposed to have cost RM11,784 in all, but they ended up forking out RM22,084.
Sales manager Cheng Xin Jun, 32, said he and his uncle were shocked when they were told at the KL International Airport counter that their names were not on the flight list.
Xin Jun, 32, said he had banked in the money into the personal account of an official from a recognised local Liverpool football fan club last October.
However, he said the official claimed that he handed over the task of flight and accommodation bookings to an agent in Cheras.
“He later claimed that the agent had avoided his calls when he tried to contact him,’’ Xin Jun told a press conference organised by Stulang Darat MCA division chairman Rodney Soon yesterday.
Xin Jun added that a group of 11 fans were to depart for London last Dec 18 to catch the Liverpool vs Cardiff City match on Dec 21.
“However, only six of us decided to proceed with the plan, as tickets had already been purchased and accommodation booked,” he said, adding that the group had lodged three police reports against the agent.
Cheng said he and his uncle were desperate to go and decided to pay an extra RM10,300 for their flight tickets to London.
“When we returned home, the official told us that he had lodged a police report against the agent but could not return the money to us yet,” he said.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Sulaiman Salleh confirmed that police were investigating the matter under Section 402 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The fan club’s president Muhamed Muzafar Mustapha, when contacted, said the trip was jointly organised with another local Liverpool fan club, which was tasked to look into flight and accommodation arrangements for the trip.
“Our club was only supposed to purchase the tickets,” he said, explaining that he was initially supposed to join the group tour but decided to pull out to talk to officials from the other fan club to resolve the matter.
He said he had also lodged three police reports against the agent.
