United, City vow to return to Asia after no-show

Beijing: Manchester United and Manchester City have insisted they remain committed to touring China in the future, despite Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola’s pre-season preparations being plunged into chaos on Monday after the cancellation of their much-publicised derby clash in Beijing.

Torrential rain and fungus problems had rendered the pitch at the Bird’s Nest in the Chinese capital “totally unsafe” to play on and forced organisers to abandon their showpiece International Champions Cup match amid Mourinho and Guardiola’s fears of a spate of injuries on the eve of the new season.

United midfielder Juan Mata and City captain Vincent Kompany led the apologies to the 50,000 fans who had bought tickets costing up to 300 pounds for the game, which had attracted global attention as the first meeting of Mourinho and Guardiola since their rivalry in Spain with Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

But despite the farcical turn of events inviting fresh debate about the merits of touring Asia in the rainy season and the conflict between commercial and footballing interests, United and City were adamant that the embarrassing episode would not deter them from touring China again. Both teams, who have been heavily engaged in commercial activities as the brand wars intensify, had encountered similar problems in Hong Kong three years ago when matches were severely affected by monsoon rain.

Ferran Soriano, the Manchester City chief executive, said: “We are very disappointed not to be able to play for our supporters here in Beijing. We remain committed to playing here in the future.”

United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, echoed Soriano’s sentiments. “Player safety has to be the top priority,” he said. “I am sure we will return to the Bird’s Nest in the future.”

The decision to cancel the game was taken only five and a half hours before the intended kick-off time, with the pitch at the Bird’s Nest ending up resembling a patchwork quilt after fungus problems had forced groundstaff to dig up large sections of the turf only for rain to wash away the replacement grass.

United flew home as planned on Monday but City are in Shenzhen for Thursday’s ICC game against Borussia Dortmund, which is expected to go ahead as planned.

Given the cancellation of Monday’s game, though, the ICC has abandoned the award of a trophy to the tournament winner.