An imminent departure of Cristiano Ronaldo has thrown Manchester United’s Asian tour into chaos, as some of the fans in the Far East have even asked for their money back.
An imminent departure of Cristiano Ronaldo has thrown Manchester United’s Asian tour into chaos, as some of the fans in the Far East have even asked for their money back.
Manchaster United is due to play in Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and China next month in lucrative pre-season friendlies.
But, the 80-million-pound-man Ronaldo, who is planning to leave for Real Madrid, is unlikely to be touring with his current teammates.
“They’re all massive Ronaldo fans. Some of the fans in the Far East have even asked for their money back because one of the main reasons they were planning to come was to see Ronaldo play. He’s widely regarded as the best player in the world and that was a huge crowd-puller. There are a lot of very disappointed people,” the Daily Star quoted a club source, as saying.
Organisers had to fork out thousands of pounds to change the marketing literature for the games after sending out advertising posters and billboards containing pictures of Ronaldo.
Designers have swapped the star’s photo for that of Geordie midfielder Michael Carrick to lure fans.
“The organisers have spent a fortune on advertising. Now they are having to re-jig it all at the last minute, so there have been a few raised eyebrows, not to mention the cost,” the source said.
In Malaysia, where the average salary is 13,500 pounds a year, ticket prices range from 10 to 55 pounds each.
And the venue for United’s game against Malaysia XI, the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to reach its 100,000 capacity.
“It’s one of the biggest sporting events for years. Hopefully, the loss of Ronaldo will not put too many people off seeing the rest of their heroes play,” said a source at the stadium.
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