BEIJING – A Chinese football fan has been handed a one-year stadium ban after he ran onto the field during Thursday’s international friendly between Argentina and Australia in Beijing.

The 18-year-old boy, identified as Di by Beijing police, jumped onto the field from the stands and hugged Lionel Messi before being carried off by security guards during the second half of the game at the Workers’ Stadium.

The fan also high-fived Argentina’s keeper Emi Martinez after evading three security guards. Videos showed the boy running around for almost a minute - throwing his hands up in the air at several points - before he tripped and was tackled by security.

“The Chaoyang Branch of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security has detained this man and banned him from entering stadiums to watch football games for 12 months,” the Chaoyang police said on its official social media account on Friday.

“Di was apologetic for his behavior and accepted the penalty imposed by the police,” it added.

The match ended in a 2-0 win for the reigning world champions, with Messi scoring his fastest ever international goal within 80 seconds of kickoff. XINHUA