Bomb blasts throw Man Utd´s Asia tour into turmoil

Manchester United’s pre-season tour to Asia has been thrown into turmoil after a bomb exploded at the Jakarta hotel they were due to stay at next week.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team of multi-millionaire superstars arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur from England, but there are doubts over whether they will continue as planned to the Indonesian capital after their match here on Saturday.

They are due to play an Indonesian All-Star squad at the sold-out 100,000-capacity Bung Karno Stadium on Monday on their first ever trip to the sprawling country and were booked into the Ritz-Carlton.

But the hotel, along with the JW Marriott, was hit by explosions that have left at least nine people dead and more than 40 injured, many of them foreigners, police said.

Two blasts shook the Ritz-Carlton and the nearby Marriott in the upscale Mega Kuningan business district in the centre of the city around 8:00 am (0100 GMT), sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky.

A third explosion was reported near a shopping complex in the north of the Indonesian capital several hours later, but police later denied initial reports that it was also caused by a bomb.

“I don’t know anything about about it. I need to talk to the rest of the team first,” United chairman Sir Bobby Charlton told AFP when asked whether the Indonesia leg would go ahead.

Ferguson and the rest of the team arrived at Kuala Lumpur’s Mandarin-Oriental grim-faced, striding past hundreds of fans without saying a word.

The team was due to hold a press conference later Friday.

A spokeswomen for the Indonesian organisers, Souraiya Farina, told AFP they had not received any information on whether United would cancel.

“We have had no confirmation of what they might be doing and no one has indicated to us that they will cancel their visit,” she said.

“They may move to another hotel,” she added, citing the Pacific Hotel as an alternative.

If they pull out of the Indonesia leg it will be a huge blow for a country that has been rocked by its first major attack since a series of suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2005.

The team, which is also scheduled to play in South Korea and China, have a huge following in Asia, with everyone from poor street vendors to wealthy businessmen donning Red Devils shirts.

The huge fan base and the commercial opportunities it offers makes their visit as much about business as football, and a chance to play in Indonesia for the first time was earlier cited by Ferguson as important for the club.

“Our fans in Asia generate money for the club, there are no two ways about it,” said United chief executive David Gill before they left Manchester.

Ferguson has brought a 22-man squad, but a glaring omission was Park Ji-Sung.

The South Korean was not on the team list on United’s website and was not seen arriving in Kuala Lumpur. No reason was given for his absence.

Also missing was defender Nemanja Vidic. Again, United gave no reason for the Serbia international’s absence although an ankle injury forced him out of a World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands last month.

The only other familiar face not to travel was Brazilian full-back Rafael Da Silva, although he too was suffering with an ankle problem.

Other than that United has a strong squad, with Michael Owen set to make his debut after his shock move from Newcastle earlier this month.