Amakhosi PR manager Putco Mafani says the Glamour Boys were forced to cancel the match after it emerged that United had gone all out to publicise the match - which was supposed to be a closed session - through the national media.

"We had initially agreed that this would just be a closed door practice match which would not engage the public," says Mafani. "But after SuperSport had publicised the match as a friendly we felt that this was going to present us with logistical problems."

"The other fact is that we had not applied for a permission from the league as is the procedure for any friendly match. Now that it is in the open we would not have time to prepare and put all necessary arrangements in place by 15:00.

"We would like to apologise to our supporters and the general public for any inconvenience. As an alternative we have organised another practice match."