North Queensland Fury cancelled its tour to Sabah

Fans of former Liverpool great, Robbie Fowler here will be disappointed after Fowler’s Australian club, North Queensland Fury cancelled its tour to Sabah that was initially scheduled at the end of May.

The club’s chairman, Don Matheson in a letter to the organiser of the tour here, Borneo Sports and Adventure, said the decision follows the cancellation of next month’s Intercontinental Cup U23 tournament due to the threat of swine flu in Malaysia.

He said the club had no choice but to follow the example set by FAM and the Malaysia’s Health Ministry.

“The team is heading into its debut Hyundai A-League season and this decision is about the long term well-being of the players. I was in Kota Kinabalu in 2008 and it is a beautiful place with great sporting facilities.

“I sincerely hope that arrangements can be made for our marquee player, Robbie Fowler and our team to make it to Sabah in 2010. I want to sincerely apologise to all local fans and we wish Sabah all the best in their remaining games for the 2009 season” said Matheson.

Meanwhile, touching on the cancellation, Borneo Sports and Adventure’s MD, Scott Ollerenshaw said “We are obviously disappointed to make this announcement, however the worldwide flu virus is simply out of our control.”

“An enormous amount of work has been carried out behind the scenes to make this tour possible and no one is more despondent that myself with this announcement” he said while thanking all the parties for their assistance.

He said that those who have bought tickets will be refunded and remineded those who have purchased the tickets to produce them at the same venue where they purchased the tickets.

He said those who would like more information can contact Ferdah at 088-249002.

Meanwhile, Ollerenshaw said that they were in negotiations to bring an English Premier League team to Sabah next year but did not disclose any further details.

He also said that the Borneo Football Cup has so far seen 10 junior teams from Australia confirming their participation in the tournament, adding that this was almost a 400 per cent increase compared to last year.

“This is a testament to our belief that sports tourism in Sabah will grow from strength to strength over the next few years” he added.