Fake sick-notes hot as World Cup approaches   

An installation featuring a giant representation of the 2014 World Cup stands at a junction in Shanghai's Xujiahui shopping area. (Photo/Shanghai Daily)

(ECNS) – Fake doctors' notes have spiked in popularity online as the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches, the Chengdu Business Daily reports.

The World Cup will open on June 12 in Brazil. As there's an 11-hour time difference between China and Brazil, most matches will be broadcast live in the hours between midnight and dawn in China, creating a dilemma for many football fans here.

As a result, speculators have tapped a business opportunity by providing fake doctors' notes to fans who want to take off work and watch the World Cup.

On Taobao, one doctor's note sells for about 10 yuan ($1.6), and a merchant from Beijing said he could customize each sick note according to consumer demand.

A seller from Chengdu said he can get sick notes directly from hospitals, but that they are much more expensive. A doctor's note giving someone 7 days off sells for 100 yuan, while a note for 30 days off goes for 300 yuan.

The seller said his clients ranged from employees at state-owned enterprises to workers at private companies.

The seller showed a sick note from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, but a worker at the hospital said it had some differences from a real one.

A normal doctor's note has the hospital's seal and the doctor's serial number and signature, the insider said, and "generally, a doctor will suggest about 2 or 3 days off, rather than 7 days off."

Other hospitals in Chengdu also said they have strict rules about doctors writing sick notes. "Hospitals keep copies of each note," a doctor at the Chengdu Second People's Hospital said.

An unnamed lawyer at the Chengdu Tahota Law Firm said selling fake sick notes is illegal. "Employees using fake doctors' notes are violating labor contracts and company regulations."