Peru descends into Panini chaos with long queues, reports of fights and mayor candidate offering desperate fans free stickers
Football fans in Peru are going bananas for Panini stickers ahead of the World Cup with fans lining the streets to buy them, reports of fights breaking out and a mayoral candidate offering freebies.
Peru pipped Chile in the South American qualifying and New Zealand in the play off to reach their this summer's extravaganza for the first time since 1982.
And fans are desperate to get their hands on their heroes in sticker form ahead of the tournament which kicks off in just 16 days.
But stocks have been selling out far quicker than suppliers can distribute, leading to shortages and unhappy fans.
In the first 10 days on the market, 140 tons of packets were sold and up to 10,000 albums were snapped up inside the first 27 minutes.
It is no surprise that demand is up from 2014 following Peru's surprise qualification but the 40 tons of packets sold four years ago has been far surpassed this time around.
Most read in football
Suppliers are continuing to promise more deliveries but queues of fans can be seen on streets in the capital, Lima, despite very limited availability.
There have even been reports of fights breaking out as the clamour for the stickers boils over.
EXCLUSIVE - World Cup 2022 scandal: Fifa under rising pressure as Foundation for Sports Integrity dossier reveals 30 years of corruption
With mayoral elections taking place in October, Betsy Cortegana utilised the current fever pitch to boost her campaign.
The Chorrillos candidate took to social media to offer free albums and packets of stickers in exchange for votes, which unsurprisingly received a mixed reaction.
Even counterfeiters are taking advantage of the situation, with police seizing 20,000 sticker books with a street value of £246,000.
Peru face Denmark, France and Australia in Group C at this summer's tournament but know they face a tough task progressing to the knockout stages.