Manchester United have agreed to cancel their planned pre-season
friendly in Malaysia.
The Premiership champions were due to face a Malaysian XI on 27th
July as part of the country's celebrations to mark the 50th
anniversary of independence from Britain.
But the fixture clashed with the Asian Cup, which is being
co-hosted by Malaysia, and there had been repeated calls for the
proposed friendly to be scrapped.
Following talks in the week, Fifa president Sepp Blatter has
confirmed that United have now called off the tour match.
"I compliment Manchester United on their decision not to go there,"
Blatter told a news conference.
"Their other matches on the tour in Japan, Macau and Korea will go
ahead.
"Those matches do not conflict with any Asian Cup matches.
"We were able to convince Manchester United that the international
calendar reserves the second half of June and the whole of July for
the confederations.
"We have nothing against clubs touring other countries, of course,
but at that time in Malaysia the United match virtually clashes
with the semi-final of the Asian Cup."
The Red Devils' tour of Asia will now comprise games against
Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, South Korean club FC Seoul and
Chinese outfit Shenzhen FC.
