THE International Champions Cup match between Premier League rivals Manchester United and Manchester City has been canceled after recent extreme weather made the playing surface at Beijing’s National Stadium unfit for play.

    Organizers say the decision to call off Monday’s match was made in the interests of player safety, and in conjunction with both clubs, the China Football Association and management of the stadium, which was the main venue for the 2008 Olympics.

    In a statement, International Champions Cup organizers said that “due to international travel schedules and planned sporting commitments, the match cancellation is definitive and the match will not be re-scheduled.”

    At China’s National Stadium, groups of fans wearing the kits of both teams were seen walking towards the event, unaware of the last-minute pullout by the top two English Premier League teams.

    The anger from the Chinese media and soccer fans was compounded when the two teams canceled a news conference where they were due to address journalists regarding the unpopular decision to cancel.

    Outside the ground, one Manchester United fan, Li Yiming, said he was very angry after traveling all the way to Beijing from Gansu Province in far western China.

    “How can they so brutally call it off? I have been waiting for months ... and the weather is just fine,” he said.

    Ticket sales of the friendly match sold out a month ago, according to reports. The official prices ranged from 400 yuan (US$59.9) to 5,000 yuan, whereas the scalpers raised that number to as much as 20,000 yuan in some online marketplaces.

    Employees from the organizers said that weather was not really the reason for the two teams to cancel the game, but the poor quality of the pitch.

    (SD-Agencies)