Rescued Chile miners invited to Man United match

English Premier League football giants Manchester United have invited the 33 Chilean miners who survived weeks trapped underground to attend one of their matches, one of the team’s sponsors said.

The invitation was conveyed to Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in a weekend meeting in London with the club’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Rafael Guilisasti, vice chairman of sponsor Vina Concha y Toro.

The miners were invited to attend a Premier League match at the team’s Old Trafford ground next year, said Vina Concha y Toro on Sunday in a statement.

Ferguson also presented Pinera with a signed team shirt from the club during the meeting.

“The courage, bravery and resilience of the miners and the rescue teams was inspirational. It is a privilege to be able to extend an invitation to Old Trafford,” Ferguson was quoted as saying in the statement.

Pinera arrived in London on Saturday and will also head to Paris and Berlin during the visit, following last week’s dramatic rescue of the miners who were trapped for 69 days in a mine in the Atacama region of chile.

On Monday, he will meet Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.