Man United Scrap ‘All Star’ Showing Amid Bomb Chaos

Manchester United have canceled the Jakarta leg of their Asian tour after the hotel they were due to stay in was bombed on Friday. 

The English champions were scheduled to play against an Indonesia “All Star” team on Monday on the second leg of their preseason tour, which also included stops in Malaysia, South Korea and China. 

The team canceled the Indonesia trip, however, after bomb blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta’s central business district, leaving at least nine people dead and scores of others wounded. 

“We’ve received a confirmation letter from Manchester United that they won’t come to Jakarta,” said Agum Gumelar, the chairman of the tour’s local organizing committee. “There’s nothing much we can do about this.” 

Agum said the committee had completed about 90 percent of preparations when the bombings occurred and that they would pursue negotiations with the England Premier League club to hold the match in Kuala Lumpur instead or reschedule it to some time in the near future. 

But Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid rejected the idea of playing the match outside the country. “The Indonesian people want to see the match. So I think it will be no use to stage the match outside the country,” Nurdin said. 

Meanwhile, the Manchester United team, which had just arrived in Kuala Lumpur when the blasts happened, was shocked to hear the news. 

“It’s a bit of a shock for all of us. We just got news of this when we landed,” club manager Alex Ferguson told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur. “There was no other solution as we had to safeguard our players. So it’s the correct decision.” 

The team will kick off their tour in Kuala Lumpur against a Malaysia XI on Saturday and are scheduled to face South Korea’s FC Seoul on July 24 before taking on Chinese outfit Hangzhou Greentown two days later. 

All 77,000 tickets for Manchester United’s match here sold out three weeks in advance and it would have been the first time the team had visited Indonesia since 1975. 

“Following the explosions in Jakarta — one of which was at the hotel the team were due to stay in — and based on advice received, the directors have informed the Indonesian FA that the club cannot fulfill the fixture,” read a United statement. 

“We are deeply disappointed at not being able to visit Indonesia and thank the Indonesian FA and our fans for their support. Our thoughts go to all those affected by the blasts.” 

 

JG, Reuters

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