London - The chaos surrounding the cancellation of Monday’s Manchester derby in Beijing will not deter either club from touring the Far East in future, according to United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and his City counterpart Ferran Soriano.
The game was called off less than five hours before kick-off due to the awful state of the pitch at the Bird’s Nest Stadium following overnight downpours.
It highlighted the problem of playing pre-season games during the rainy season in China after United and City both experienced severe problems with the pitch on their visit to Hong Kong three years ago.
However, the huge commercial spin-offs in China make it more than worthwhile. United have an estimated 110 million fans in China, while City’s decision to sell a 13 per cent stake in their parent company to a group of Chinese investors for £265m in December underlined their bold plans in the Far East.
Therefore, it was no surprise to hear both clubs insisting that they will be happy to return to the region in future despite the problems they have encountered over the past few days.
Woodward said: ‘The recent torrential rain would have caused problems anywhere in the world and has left the pitch unplayable.
‘We know our fans in China will, like the players and staff, be saddened by the cancellation of the match, but I am sure they appreciate that the players’ safety has to be the top priority.
‘I am sure we will return to the Bird’s Nest in the future to give them the chance to see the team in action.’
While United flew home from China on Monday, City will carry on to Shenzhen, where they meet Borussia Dortmund on Thursday.
Soriano, City’s chief executive, said: ‘We know how much everyone was looking forward to the game, but we understand that this bad weather is beyond anyone’s control, and that the rain has made it totally unsafe to play on this pitch.
‘It has been a pleasure and an honour to experience such a warm welcome from the people and supporters here in Beijing, and we remain committed to playing here in the future.’
The playing surface at the Bird’s Nest resembled a patchwork quilt after desperate attempts were made to ensure the first Manchester derby to be staged on foreign soil went ahead.
But the match was called off just after 7am UK time following a pitch inspection and 90 minutes of talks between delegations from clubs and organisers of the International Champions Cup.
The ICC insisted that the 50 000 fans who paid between £60 and £300 for tickets will be reimbursed, but many were upset when they learned of the decision to cancel the game after reaching the stadium.
United fan Hu Mu Lin said: ‘I am angry because I had a ticket and now they can’t play the match. We drove here by car and it took six or seven hours with my father and my friend.’
City supporter Sun Zhenbo, who had travelled 700 miles from Suihua, added: ‘We have come to Beijing especially for this. I don’t know how this has happened. We cannot accept it. It took us eight hours by train to get here and then we walked for two hours from Tiananmen Square to get to the stadium.’
The bad weather also forced United’s team flight to divert to Tianjin on Saturday night, while Jose Mourinho’s pre-match press conference was initially scrapped and then moved outside because of the intense humidity.
It is understood that both clubs are considering touring either the United States or South Africa next summer.
@ChrisWheelerDM
Daily Mail