Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is sorry for fans after their clash with Manchester United in Beijing was called off.
Advertisement
“It’s extremely disappointing not to be able to play the game in this awesome stadium but the recent torrential rain would have caused problems anywhere in the world and has left the pitch unplayable”.
It would have been the first face-off between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola as Manchester United and Manchester City managers respectively. “It’s about getting your fitness work in and also getting to know the manager and the staff and the new players”.
In a statement, International Champions Cup organisers said that “due to international travel schedules and planned sporting commitments, the match cancellation is definitive and the match will not be re-scheduled”.
The pre-season friendly was called off due to what officials of both teams termed as bad weather, that left the pitch conditions unfit for play.
Manchester United and City fans in China could not hide their anguish after learning the Premier League titans’ International Champions Cup clash had been abandoned. Some of their squad who were not scheduled to play have done light training but City, who fly to Shenzhen on Tuesday for Thursday’s game against Borussia Dortmund, have not trained.
This could have been the first Manchester Derby away from the shores of England in 140 years.
Organizers say the two clubs jointly made the decision in order to guarantee player safety. Both sides were forced to switch their prematch training sessions to the nearby Olympic Sports Centre in an attempt to protect the pitch. “An appropriate refund policy will be put in place by our local partners for those fans”.
As a result of the cancellation, there will be no longer be a tournament victor of the International Champions Cup in China.
‘In the meantime we have to get on with it, we move on to Shenzhen, and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get some good game-time in and obviously see our fans over there.
Rival bosses Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola had joined forces yesterday to raise fears over injuries to their star players if the game went ahead on the surface.
Advertisement
“We feel very disappointed with the outcome, and have tried our absolute best to save the event following recent extreme rain in Beijing”.
