A Week After Announcing a Post-Season Trip to Bahrain, QPR Announce Game's Cancellation

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QPR Official Site - April 20, 2009 *R'S HEADING FOR BAHRAIN- Queens Park Rangers Football Club is pleased to announce details of an end of season training camp in Bahrain.
- The five day tour - which will run from Tuesday 5th May to Saturday 9th May 2009 - will see QPR lock horns with the Bahrain national side on Thursday 7th May, as well as showcasing the Club's community initiatives and business partnerships through our association with Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier and Queens Park Ranger's official shirt sponsors.
- QPR Holdings Ltd Chairman, Flavio Briatore, welcomed the news, commenting: "This is a fantastic opportunity for the Club to broaden its horizons in the Middle East.
- "Our relationship with Gulf Air has thrived since day one of our partnership and this tour will help build further bridges with them and at the same time, allow the local population up close and personal to both the players and the action."
- Gulf Air CEO, Bjorn Näf said: "As the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain and proud sponsor of the Super Hoops, we are delighted to be associated with QPR's visit.
- "It has been a long hard season for QPR, but with the recent win against Sheffield Wednesday it's clear that the foundations for success have been built and that next season looks set to be a historic one in the Club's proud history.
- "We are looking forward to having them as our guests and to introducing them to their Bahraini fans.
- "Football is extremely popular in the Kingdom and we are delighted to once again offer the youngsters of Bahrain the opportunity to receive coaching from QPR.
- "The previous camps we ran proved a great success and we can now build on that and further contribute to bringing on local talent.
- "I am particularly looking forward to the game against the Bahrain national team.
- "They are on a fine run of form after the fantastic win against Qatar, so it promises to be a great game.
"No matter who wins the game, the real winners will be the football loving people of Bahrain," concluded Mr. Näf QPR


April 27, 2009 QPR Official Site - BAHRAIN TOUR CANCELLED
- It is with great regret that the Club has been forced to cancel our proposed end of season tour to Bahrain.
- The R's First Team squad were due to travel to the Kingdom early next week, ahead of a friendly against the Bahrain national side on Thursday 7th May.
- However, it has recently become evident that a sizeable number of the Bahrain Football Associations' Administration, as well as Executive members, will be travelling to Kuala Lumpar to support their president, H.E Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa in the days leading up to the May 8th election at the AFC Congress. Shaikh Salman is a candidate for the position of AFC Representative to the FIFA Executive Committee.
- Vice President of the Bahrain Football Association, Shaikh Ali Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, said: "It is with deep regret that we have been forced into making this decision.
- "We were all really looking forward to welcoming Queens Park Rangers Football Club to our Kingdom, but the FIFA meeting is of paramount importance to us and so we were left with no option."
- He added: "We are committed to playing this fixture again in the future and we will be working closely with the Club and Gulf Air, their shirt sponsors, to ensure we can fulfill this match in the future."
- QPR's Deputy Managing Director, Ali Russell, added: "It's a great shame for us all, but we understand the reasons behind it.
- "However, the Club is committed to developing our relationship with the Bahrain Football Association, and we will be doing everything in our powers to get this fixture played in the future."
- The BFA and QPR would like to apologise to any fans who have already booked flights and hotels and are willing to discuss compensation.
Supporters are encouraged to e-mail laressak@qpr.co.uk to discuss this further. QPR