Pre-season Manchester derby cancelled in China due to bad weather

Eager fans in China were disappointed after a Manchester derby scheduled to kick off on Monday, at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, was cancelled.

Manchester United vs Manchester City CANCELLED as torrential rain forces 11th hour postponement https://t.co/R6cmQeCrkf

— Man United News ⚽️ (@SirAlexStand) July 25, 2016

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.

“Three days ago I took a 12 hour train journey from Nanning and in the end this is the result I get, I took two days off and this is the result I got, it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking economically or emotionally, the costs are really high,” said Chen Leibing a fan.

Around 50,000 fans had bought tickets costing up to about $400 for the game.

In a television interview, Man City Captain, Vincent Kompany, shared his remorse over the turn of events.

“It’s sad to call it off but I think mainly we want to thank the fans for their passion and for the way they’ve received us in Beijing since they’ve been here.”

The clash would have pitted two rival managers Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola together for the first time at their new clubs.

Pep v Jose Round 1 ends up farce as game called off due to shambolic pitch in Beijing #mufc #mcfc https://t.co/XqX301qsw6

— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) July 25, 2016

The cancellation means that there will be insufficient matches played in the 2016 International Champions Cup China to achieve a tournament winner, Manchester United said in a statement.

Read a further statement on today’s cancelled match in Beijing: https://t.co/jPNVcn2KHb #MUTOUR pic.twitter.com/xMEbX6pbld

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 25, 2016

Reuters