Arsenal Football Club postpones pre-season game in Nigeria

Arsenal Football Club has announced it is reluctantly postponing its proposed trip to Nigeria this summer. The
Club has taken the decision as a result of complexities linked to the
planned game against Nigeria on Saturday, August 5 in Abuja.

Arsenal
marketing director Angus Kinnear said: “Bringing a top-level club to an
international market is always complicated and logistically
challenging. With the proposed match in Nigeria planned for early
August, we could not get comfortable on everything needed to satisfy our
requirements, so we have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the
team’s visit.”

Kinnear continued: “We have a huge and loyal
following in Africa, and we are sorry that the team will not be visiting
this summer. However, we have a long-term commitment to Nigeria and we
are already making plans for a visit next summer.

“In addition,
we also have some exciting forthcoming activities planned with our
commercial partners in Nigeria – Emirates, Airtel and Malta Guinness,
which will kick off in the next few weeks.”

Emirates are the
presenting partner of the Arsenal 2012 Tour and Boutros Boutros,
divisional senior vice-president of corporate communications said:
“Emirates shares Arsenal’s disappointment that the team’s visit to
Nigeria has been postponed. We look forward to working with Arsenal to
bring the Club closer to its loyal Nigerian fans through new initiatives
over the coming months.”

All further updates on Arsenal’s future activities in Nigeria will be communicated on www.Arsenal.com.

Source: Arsenal