Manchester United have
decided against a trip to Australia to replace their cancelled
visit to Indonesia.
United were due in Jakarta immediately after their encounter
with a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur but those plans were scrapped
following the terrorist attacks, one of which was in the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel where they were due to be staying.
The Football Federation of Australia moved quickly to see
whether United would have been interested in tackling either
Sydney FC or Melbourne Victory instead.
However, the extra travel - it would have meant a nine-hour
flight to Sydney and then 11 hours up to Seoul, where United are
set to play on Friday - made it a non-starter given they are
heading back to Europe straight after a game on the Sunday in
China.
"We were planning to pull out all the stops to make it happen,"
admitted FFA director of communications Bonita Mersiades.
"However, their commitments meant the game could only be played
on Monday, which we were willing to organise, but there was a lot
of to-ing and fro-ing on their side, so unfortunately it wasn't
possible."