A:3k Cancelled After England Stars Withdraw

The A:3K football skills challenge event scheduled to take place at The O2 Arena on 17th July has been cancelled after England players Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney withdrew saying that their participation would be ‘inappropriate’ following the national team’s poor performance at the World Cup.

The event, which has now been postponed until the summer of 2011, was created as the first of its kind to bring together some of the greatest football talents in the world to compete in a series of challenges in front of a live audience.

Gerrard and Rooney, who were reportedly earning around £500,000 each from the event, were fronting the line-up which also included Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In a statement, director of A:3K Terry Byrne commented: ‘Both Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have made it clear they believe it would be inappropriate for them to participate in A:3K at this time. We fully understand and respect both players’ decisions. We could have replaced them with two other players but feel the players involved are six of the best in the world – and that is what we promised we would deliver. 

‘Having consulted all parties involved, everyone agreed the only decision possible was to postpone the event until next summer when we intend to deliver the same six player line up. Our priority right now is to our customers who have purchased tickets.

‘We will be offering a full refund or the option to keep the tickets for next year’s event. Once again all of us at A:3K would like to apologise to our customers, our partners and stakeholders for any inconvenience caused by the postponement.’

President of International for AEG Live, Rob Hallett, who was promoting the event added: ‘As a football fan I totally understand and respect Steven and Wayne’s decision to postpone their involvement in A:3K until next year. We look forward to hosting the event at the O2 Arena on the rescheduled date in June 2011.’