Tuesday, 8 May 2007

Spanner in the works?

Newspapers in town are all giving coverage to a strange and stinging attack by the AFC president, Mohamed Bin Hammam, on Manchester United, calling them “disrespectful” and demanding that they cancel their Asian tour.

And this is because United's tour in July will clash with the Asian Cup Finals. Claiming it to be "a message on behalf of the whole Asian football family, all our players, our coaches”, Hammam feared United will divert attention away from the Asian Cup which will played 7-29 July.

This is what he said: "It is disrespectful. This is not the solidarity we expect from the football family. We expect Manchester United to look for something more than money. Asia is giving them so much money during the on-season. One month every four years and they cannot spare it to not play in Asia? We are trying to encourage more spectators to watch Asian football but it looks like the people at Manchester want to fight this idea and corner this market. We can prevent them legally in Malaysia but I don’t want them to play in South Korea, Japan or China either.”

I'm outraged. This is what I call stupid. Luckily you are not "speaking on my behalf." I do not need you to speak on my behalf. I, for one, care nothing about the Asian Cup. Do you believe that just because United's tour is cancelled, I'll want to watch your stupid tournament, let alone read about it in the newspapers? You must be dreaming. I watch United because I want to. Nobody dictates that to me, least of all, you. And if they want to come, who are you, Hamman, to say otherwise? You are just plain petty! And your language is boorish. It shows your small-town egoistic mentality. If you dare speak more politely, I wouldn't be so upset at you. You owe us Red Devils fans an apology.

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