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Man United bow to pressure from AFC and call off game

Premier League champions Manchester United yesterday bowed to pressure from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and called off their planned match in Malaysia in July.

The decision followed talks on Wednesday between AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam, Premier League chairman Dave Richards and Manchester United chief executive David Gill.

"This match is a key element of the Malaysian government's celebrations of its 50 years of independence and presents a marvellous opportunity for us to play in front of our many Malaysian fans," United said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, new information has come to the club's attention concerning the FAM's [Football Association of Malaysia] agreement with the AFC to act as host for the Asian Cup, which means the club cannot play the game without the official approval of the AFC," the statement said.

United said the only way the match could go ahead was if the AFC changed its mind.

An AFC official yesterday said its position was unchanged -- that the match cannot take place during the Asian Cup competition, which runs from July 7 to July 29.

All four Asian Cup host nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam -- made pledges to the AFC that they would not hold or promote any other soccer matches during the flagship tournament.

Bin Hammam has warned the FAM it faces "wide-ranging legal repercussions" for failing to toe the AFC line.

His fear is that a club of United's magnitude would draw attention away from the region's most prestigious soccer tournament, held every four years.

However, the rest of United's Asia tour to South Korea, Japan and Macau is set to go ahead despite AFC calls for it to be postponed.

The climbdown is a victory for the AFC and a slap in the face for FAM and the Malaysian government, which invited United as part of their independence celebrations.
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