Manchester United and City visit the Far East for huge commercial spin-offs, but friendly farce shows that there can be a heavy price to pay 

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The chaos surrounding the cancellation of Monday’s Manchester derby in Beijing will not deter either club from touring the Far East in future, according to United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and his City counterpart Ferran Soriano.

The game was called off less than five hours before kick-off due to the awful state of the pitch at the Bird’s Nest Stadium following overnight downpours.

It highlighted the problem of playing pre-season games during the rainy season here after United and City both experienced severe problems with the pitch on their visit to Hong Kong three years ago. 

Jose Mourinho and his Manchester United players trained at the Olympic Sports Center in Beijing on Sunday

Pep Guardiola was worried about the playing surface at the Bird's Nest before the game was cancelled

However, the huge commercial spin-offs in China make it more than worthwhile. United have an estimated 110million fans here, while City’s decision to sell a 13 per cent stake in their parent company to a group of Chinese investors for £265m in December underlined their bold plans in the Far East.

Therefore, it was no surprise to hear both clubs insisting that they will be happy to return to the region in future despite the problems they have encountered over the past few days.

Woodward said: ‘The recent torrential rain would have caused problems anywhere in the world and has left the pitch unplayable.

‘We know our fans in China will, like the players and staff, be saddened by the cancellation of the match, but I am sure they appreciate that the players’ safety has to be the top priority. 

‘I am sure we will return to the Bird’s Nest in the future to give them the chance to see the team in action.’

While United flew home from China on Monday, City will carry on to Shenzhen, where they meet Borussia Dortmund on Thursday.

Ground staff work on the rain-soaked pitch in Hong Kong before Tottenham's game with Sunderland in 2013

Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen damaged ankle ligaments during his side's friendly with Sunderland

Soriano, City’s chief executive, said: ‘We know how much everyone was looking forward to the game, but we understand that this bad weather is beyond anyone’s control, and that the rain has made it totally unsafe to play on this pitch.

‘It has been a pleasure and an honour to experience such a warm welcome from the people and supporters here in Beijing, and we remain committed to playing here in the future.’ 

The playing surface at the Bird’s Nest resembled a patchwork quilt after desperate attempts were made to ensure the first Manchester derby to be staged on foreign soil went ahead. 

Local Manchester United supporters wait for the team outside their hotel in Beijing on Monday evening 

Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Ander Herrera (left to right) applaud the fans after training on Sunday

But the match was called off just after 7am UK time following a pitch inspection and 90 minutes of talks between delegations from clubs and organisers of the International Champions Cup.

The ICC insisted that the 50,000 fans who paid between £60 and £300 for tickets will be reimbursed, but many were upset when they learned of the decision to cancel the game after reaching the stadium.

United fan Hu Mu Lin said: ‘I am angry because I had a ticket and now they can’t play the match. We drove here by car and it took six or seven hours with my father and my friend.’ 

Sergio Aguero (centre) and his Manchester City team-mates get put through their paces on Sunday

Manchester City fans cheer as Guardiola's players prepare for the new season with a session in Beijing

City supporter Sun Zhenbo, who had travelled 700 miles from Suihua, added: ‘We have come to Beijing especially for this. I don’t know how this has happened. We cannot accept it. It took us eight hours by train to get here and then we walked for two hours from Tiananmen Square to get to the stadium.’

The bad weather also forced United’s team flight to divert to Tianjin on Saturday night, while Jose Mourinho’s pre-match press conference was initially scrapped and then moved outside because of the intense humidity.

It is understood that both clubs are considering touring either the United States or South Africa next summer.