“The rain has made it totally unsafe to play on this pitch”, said Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano in a statement.
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“The conditions experienced in Beijing on July 19 and July 20 were reported as being some of the most extreme weather conditions the capital of China has experience in recent history”.
United were due to land back in Manchester in the early hours of Tuesday morning following the cancellation of Monday’s derby clash against Manchester City in Beijing as a result of adverse weather leaving the pitch at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in an unplayable condition.
Tournament spokesperson Patrick Murphy said: “As the leading pre-season tournament globally, International Champions Cup is committed to delivering safe and professional match conditions for the world’s best footballers, that in turn delivers great entertainment for fans”.
“I’ve been an England player or coach in eight tournaments and the fall-out from this one is no different, but that group of players will achieve”, Neville said. In a weeks time, United face Galatasaray in Gothenburg ending their pre-season tour.
Following the friendly against Dortmund during a short and relatively straightforward stay in Shanghai, flight problems en route to Beijing were compounded by organisational issues upon arrival.
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The United squad will be given two days off before returning for training on Thursday, a first chance for stalwart Rooney to work alongside new signing Ibrahimovic due to the Swede taking an extended break following Euro 2016. As torrents of rain have beleaguered the city of late, player safety and quality of play at the soggy Beijing National Stadium, or Birds Nest Stadium, were cited as reasons for prohibiting the contest.
