By David Gold
December 7 – Arsenal have announced that they will not stage the Emirates Cup next summer due to the London Olympic Games taking place over the period when the annual tournament would usually be held.
The last weekend in July usually sees three teams join the Premier League side for a friendly tournament at the Emirates Stadium to play two games over two days.
Following discussions the club has been advised that it would not be feasible to stage the event due to the close proximity to the Olympic Games, which are due to run from July 27 to August 12.
With the Premier League campaign unlikely to start until Saturday August 25 due to the Government’s hosting commitment to the International Olympic Committtee, this would leave Arsenal with little room to host the tournament.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said: “Although we are disappointed that we cannot stage the Emirates Cup in 2012, we completely understand and accept the situation.
“Over 100,000 people have attended the Emirates Cup each year since we introduced the competition in 2007, and this would have only added to the demands on London’s infrastructure during the Olympics.
“Of course, we would have preferred the Emirates Cup to have been staged in 2012, but we completely respect the situation and like everyone, are fully supportive of, and looking forward to a successful London 2012 Olympic Games.
“We are already planning ahead to bring three high profile clubs to Emirates Stadium for 2013.”
The club could go on another overseas tour next summer instead, and are currently looking into a number of options, following on from the decision this year to break with tradition and fly out to the Far East rather than train in Austria before the new season.
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