Deportivo ditch Mexico tour due to swine flu outbreak

Deportivo La Coruna have put off their pre-season tour of Mexico due to concerns over the swine flu outbreak in the Central American country, the first division Spanish club said Saturday.

The A(H1N1) virus “has led the pre-season in Mexico to be postponed until next year,” the Galician side said in their official newspaper.

The club had been scheduled to play four friendly games – against Gallos Blancos de Queretaro, Deportivo Toluca, Atlante FC and San Luis FC – during the Mexican tour starting on July 5.

Deportivo will instead play friendlies against three European teams – Italy’s AS Roma, France’s Toulouse and Portugal’s Vitoria de Guimaraes – as part of their pre-season programme.

In the first round of the new season’s matches, Deportivo have the daunting task of testing Real Madrid’s new multimillion euro team, featuring Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, at the Bernabeu on the weekend of August 29-30.

Swine flu first emerged in Mexico in April but the United States has overtaken it in terms of both cases of infection and confirmed deaths.

The disease has claimed the lives of 119 people in Mexico and 170 in the United States, the World Health Organisation said Monday in its latest update.