'There was no scheduled public training, the plan was always to train indoors'
Real Madrid's club president last night shifted into damage-limitation mode over the cancellation of Wednesday's training session, apologising to fans who missed out on seeing star players who later found the energy to party in private.
'I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding and the problem with communication, which is why the training was cancelled,' Florentino Perez said. 'In our schedule there was no outdoor or public training. The plan was always to train indoors at the hotel. I would like to apologise very sincerely. In Spain, Real Madrid has the best relations between the players and the public and we hope to do the same in Asia.'
Publicity agents initially said the team was too tired to train publicly or appear en masse at a pre-arranged press conference. Absentees included David Beckham and Ronaldo. The club also failed to take part in a clinic for local youngsters which was supposed to have been part of yesterday's programme at Hong Kong Stadium.
The team's performance off the pitch is raising concern among government officials, given their pledge to underwrite the $36 million game organised by the Hong Kong Football Association.
'It wouldn't have taken very much for them to help us all by making a better impression ... I hope lessons will be learnt,' one official said.