City's trip a gigantic own goal

English club's disdain for fans and media all too apparent during farcical China tour

NANJING, Jiangsu province - It was a muggy Wednesday in Nanjing. Manchester City had just strolled to a 4-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League Asia Trophy.

Backstage, a gaggle of excited Chinese supporters waited patiently for legendary City manager Pep Guardiola to make his way to the team bus. Suddenly, there were cries of "Pep! Pep! Pep!" and "Over here, gaffer!"

Flanked by two security guards, Guardiola approached and the fans' calls grew louder and more frantic, for this might be the only opportunity they get to meet their hero.

As Guardiola drew level with the cheering supporters, the excitement reached fever pitch - then suddenly died. Without breaking stride and with eyes fixed straight ahead, the Spaniard walked on, shielded by his two heavies.

Taken alone as a one-off occurrence, it might have been excusable, perhaps being due to jetlag or a packed schedule. But unfortunately for Chinese fans and local media here, it proved to be just one of many examples of the utter disrespect shown by Manchester City to its hosts.

The Premier League champion's appearance in China was nothing more than a commercial obligation, and its lack of enthusiasm and indifference stood in stark contrast to the preseason tournament's other teams.

For Wolverhampton Wanderers, for example, fan interaction was paramount, with players and coaches doing everything they could to engage and show them a more personal side to the club.

The tournament's other two teams, Newcastle United and West Ham, sent some of their stars to help out at an under-12 soccer tournament in Nanjing on Tuesday, surely an experience the youngsters won't soon forget.

In contrast, City CEO Ferran Soriano gave a presentation entitled "City Football Group: Creating a Truly Global Football Footprint", which focused on how the club could best commercially expand in China and look to relieve Chinese fans of their money.

Despite autograph signing sessions for exclusive VIP ticket holders - which come at a premium - the reality of City's time in Shanghai and Nanjing seems a long way from the promises of "hosting exciting events and welcoming local fans to our matches", made by COO Omar Berrada back in March.

In addition, the City press operation has been woefully lacking. The club sent neither its director of communications nor its lead press officer to China, instead wheeling out a junior member of staff who arrived embarrassingly underprepared for the task at hand.

The result has been that Chinese media were ignored and sidelined during the duration of the trip, with City only fulfilling contractual obligations, and doing so less than enthusiastically.

PP Sports, the Chinese media partner of the tour, was granted less than five minutes of a pitch-side interview with Guardiola, whereas British TV partners received a 15-minute sit-down session.

On top of that, Chinese media found themselves excluded from a number of other events. Following the final pre-match news conference on Friday, British media were invited to sit down with new signing Rodri, whereas Chinese media were ushered onto a bus.

This discrimination was highlighted further at a Puma event in Shanghai on Friday, when Chinese journalists were segregated from foreign counterparts.