No Man Utd decision on Israel invite

Manchester United have revealed it is ’too early to say’ whether they will accept an invite to play in Tel Aviv as part of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

Israel’s ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor made the formal invitation to Alex Ferguson at a meeting at Old Trafford today.

The troubled Middle-Eastern state will celebrate 60 years of existence and it is hoped Ferguson will agree to let United tackle the Israel national side in May.

Although England played in Israel as recently as last March, United have never visited the country and a Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa in 2002 was moved to Cyprus because of security problems in the region.

Since then, Israeli teams have been allowed to play in Tel Aviv, although the odds on United making the journey must be considered slim, especially if they continue to progress in both the Champions League and FA Cups because once the domestic season is over, their players will be required for international duty, even though only a handful are going to be at Euro 2008.

“At this stage, it is too early to say whether we would accept the offer,” said a Manchester United spokesman.

“Clearly, at this point, we don’t know precisely when the season will end and our energies are fully concentrated on the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League.”