Sydney (AFP)
An Australian organizer of sporting events has promised to reimburse basketball fans disappointed not to have seen the evolution of big names in the NBA like LeBron James, last year during two preparation matches for the World Cup -2019 Australia- United States.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has indicated that TEG Live will reimburse 5 million Australian dollars (2.82 million euros) to the 5,000 people who bought 20,000 tickets to attend the Melbourne meetings. August 22 and 24.
The ACCC considered that the organizer had made a "false and untrue" advertisement on the sight on the ground which the spectators would have as well as on the stars of the NBA present.
"From our perspective, the behavior of TEG Live is not acceptable and we are pleased that approximately 5,000 people are automatically reimbursed," said ACCC President Rod Sims.
To promote the event, TEG Live used the image of an American basketball court around which spectators were seated in stands.
In the Melbourne stadium, where the matches were held, spectators were placed on ground level and had reduced visibility.
Most of the premium seats - for which fans had paid between 506 and 2,260 euros - offered obstructed views of the field.
In addition, the advertisements suggested that NBA stars like James and Kevin Durant (Editor's note: neither of them participated in the World Cup nor in the preparation of Team USA) would participate in these matches when the organizer didn’t had not confirmed their presence.
"In the end, only four players with an (announced) squad of 35 - Harrison Barnes, Kemba Walker, Khris Middleton and Myles Turner - participated in these games," said ACCC President Rod Sims.
"We are concerned that consumers may have bought tickets thinking that many of these advertised top players were going to play when, ultimately, they were not," he said.
ACCC has stated that affected ticket holders will be reimbursed by July.
© 2020 AFP