United will take on Kitchee FC on Monday night and did not want to further harm a pitch which has caused furore at the Asia Cup involving Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and South China.

A statement from the event organisers read: “Manchester United, Kitchee and the Hong Kong Football Association have reluctantly made the decision to cancel the open training session, planned for Sunday evening at the Hong Kong Stadium.

“The pitch has suffered from torrential rainfall in the last week, as well as staging a number of games in a very short space of time.”u00a0

“Wednesday’s matches (Sunderland vs Tottenham, Man City vs South China) had their kick-offs delayed, only proceeding after being shortened to 40-minute halves. The open session had to be cancelled.”