The Indie reports:
'The mercurial talents of Wayne Rooney and the potboiling politics of the
Middle East aren't usually mentioned in the same breath, but the two are
about to cause a thumping headache for the bean counters at Manchester
United. 'The Premiership club have agreed to play a match in January in Riyadh,
as part of a testimonial game for the Saudi Arabian footballing star, Sami
Al-Jaber. The match, for which United will apparently pocket £1m, has
been interpreted as yet another chance to expand the fanbase and flog
thousands of replica shirts of their biggest stars, Rooney in particular. 'But that might be easier said than done. Rooney and several teammates,
including Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick, travelled to Tel Aviv in
March for England's goalless international match against Israel. Ferdinand
has also visited Israel in the past, as he is represented by the controversial
"super agent" Pini Zahavi. And as any Middle Eastern hack will tell you,
getting a Saudi visa approved is nigh on impossible with an Israeli stamp
in your passport.'Seeing as the game would come right in the middle of United's season,
their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is thought to be opposed to the trip.
This could be just the excuse to wriggle out of it he was looking for.'