Manchester United Defended By Ed Woodward Over Postponement

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has defended the club over the postponement of Sunday's Premier League fixture against Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

The game was called off after the stadium was evacuated following the discovery of a suspect package in a toilet in the ground.

However, it later emerged that the device, which was described as a "life-like" bomb, was accidentally left by a private company at the stadium following a training exercise involving sniffer dogs held last Wednesday.

Greater Manchester mayor Tony Lloyd has called for a full inquiry into the "fiasco" and said someone will be held accountable.

But Woodward says he is proud of the way the club's staff acted on Sunday as the No 1 priority at Manchester United is the safety of the fans.

He also insists the club would take the same action if they were presented with the same situation in the future.

And Woodward revealed that the device was one of 14 that had been used during the training exercise and had been signed as having been recovered by the contractor.

Woodward said in a statement released on Monday afternoon: "The safety of the fans is our No 1 aim at every event we host at Old Trafford. Overall, I'm proud of how our staff responded.

"The facts are:

1.On the discovery of a suspect package, the police and the club worked quickly and closely to identify the threat, make people safe and evacuate the ground calmly and efficiently.

2.Fans of both clubs behaved impeccably and the evacuation - the first of its type in the UK - was a complete success.

3.Following investigation, the device proved to have been left in error following the training of dog handlers by a sub-contractor.

4.The contractor had signed the device as having been recovered along with the 13 other devices at the end of the exercise.

5.That device could not have been detected by sniffer dogs on the routine matchday search of the 100 Club, as it contained no explosives and was used in an exercise training handlers not dogs.

"Once a live situation was identified, the club and police had no option but to treat the matter as a potential terror threat; we could not have assumed it was a training exercise error. Presented with the same situation in the future, we would take the same action.

"We have worked very closely with the police and counter terrorism specialists for many years now and enjoy their support on a daily basis.

"For tomorrow's rearranged match against Bournemouth, we are working closely with Greater Manchester Police to ensure that robust security measures continue to be of the highest priority.

"We are conducting a detailed evaluation with the help of the police and will share our findings across the rest of the game. Valuable lessons will have been learned from yesterday's events and it is important that those are shared with other stadium operators to ensure that the safety of the public remains the first duty of us all."

Credit: Skysports.com