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David Beckham appearance at Chinese university causes stampede

In his role as Ambassador for Distracting the World from a Football League Riddled with Corruption, David Beckham is currently enjoying a week-long promotional tour of China.

He has seen Chinese Super League teams train, played with school children and sat around watching NBA games. The much-loved old British Dame was even lucky enough to meet Helen Mirren.

Day four of his tour, however, did not pass without incident. The reitred midfielder paid a visit to Shanghai Tongji University to meet their football team, but when nearly 1,000 fans gathered to catch a glimpse of him, the crowds couldn't be controlled and a stampede ensued. The Guardian reports:

Upon Beckham's arrival, fans stormed a gate and broke through police and guards, [state-run news site Xinmin] said. Photos and video footage show people pushed to the ground, shoes scattered and a uniformed woman being carried away, her face covered in blood.

[...]

Three police officers, two university security guards and two students were injured, Shanghai police said.

The event was promptly cancelled, presumably leaving a team of very disappointed university footballers.

Becks used his page on Chinese social media site Weibo to wish the injured parties a speedy recovery, but on his Facebook page, it was referred to only as an "enthusiastic welcome"...

(facebook.com)
(facebook.com)

Incidentally, access to Facebook is banned in China, but Big Davey B doesn't let a little thing like oppressive government censorship stand in his way.