Manchester United face multi-million bill for fake bomb 'fiasco'

Manchester United Kingdom A fake bomb inside Old Trafford that forced the abandonment of Manchester Uniteds last Premier League game of the season triggered angry calls Monday for action as the club faced a multimillion pound bill for the fiascoAs inquiries started into the incident which led to bomb disposal experts blowing up a mobile phone attached to a gas pipe United vowed to reimburse the tickets of 75000 fans who were evacuated Sunday ahead of the game against Bournemouth They will also give them free entry to Tuesdays rearranged match against the southcoast side That gesture alone could cost United more than three million pounds 38 million euros43 million Tony Lloyd Manchesters mayor and police and crime commissioner said It is outrageous this situation aroseA full inquiry is required to urgently find out how this happened why it happened and who will be held accountable This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the armys bomb squad and unnecessarily put people in danger as evacuating tens of thousands of people from a football stadium is not without riskOfficials said a company which conducted a security exercise at Old Trafford had left the fake bomb a mobile phone attached to a gas pipe in a stadium toilet The device was found just before Sundays kickoff and the evacuation ordered Army experts staged a controlled explosion before police announced that the suspect device was incredibly lifelike but wasnt viableGreater Manchester police assistant chief constable John OHare said On appearance this device was as real as could be and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do until we could be sure that people were not at risk Uniteds vicechairman Ed Woodward said an investigation would be launched to guide future actions and decisionsBritish media named the company that left the device in the stadium as Security Search Management and Solutions They said the firm had staged a training exercise for sniffer dogs at Old Trafford but left the fake bomb behind Christopher Reid owner of Security Search Management told the Daily Mail his company was getting the blame for the fake bomb but refused to make any comment until after he had spoken with Manchester UnitedFan disappointmentThe incident left a number of spectators deeply disappointed About 3500 Bournemouth fans made a 500mile 800kilometre round trip to Manchester to see their clubs first league game at Old Trafford Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told the local Daily Echo newspaper It was a real anticlimax to a day everyone had been looking forward toBut all those disappointments and emotions really go out of the window when you think about the supporters and everything they have put into the day financial costs time effort Sam Stride a United supporter from Bristol said Unbelievable This is the first time I have been to Old Trafford to see a game My mate and I have known each other for 63 years and we travelled up from Bristol togetherWe sat in the Stretford End for about five seconds before they asked us to leave Its very disappointing Sundays incident was Uniteds second security scare of the week after their team bus was attacked by West Ham United fans on Tuesday The Manchester United Supporters Trust said it had raised the money for a fan who had travelled from Sierra Leone to see his first Old Trafford game to get a ticket for next Saturdays FA Cup final against Crystal Palace at WembleyThe trust said it had rearranged flights and found hotels for the Africa fan named only as Moses Players from the two teams were already on the pitch when the game was cancelled and were quickly led back to the dressing rooms What happened in Old Trafford this Sunday left all of us who were there absolutely shocked Uniteds Spanish midfielder Juan Mata wrote in a blog on the club websiteIt helped not to spread panic around although all of us had a very odd feeling something like strain mixed with a lack of understanding I feel sorry for all those people who had to go back home without watching the game Mata said Theres been nerves and tension United midfielder Ander Herrera told Spanish radio of the evacuation