London: The discovery of a suspicious package at the stadium on Sunday forced England's top football club Manchester United to call off their final match of the Premier League season against Bournemouth minutes before the kick off.
Sir Alex Ferguson Stand and Stretford End, containing around 20,000 spectators, at the Old Trafford stadium were evacuated before the home game against Bournemouth and sniffer dogs were brought in to search the stands.
Kick-off was delayed and shortly afterwards the match was abandoned on police advice.
Security personnel supervised fans exiting the stadium. An "operation red code" alert was heard over the tannoy and the players who were warming up left the field.
The suspect package was found in the north-west corner of the stadium.
Manchester United said in a statement: "Due to the discovery of a suspect package in the north-west quadrant of the ground, the match has been abandoned for today on police advice.
"People in the stadium are advised to remain in their seats while the forecourt is cleared of fans evacuated from the stadium. Further announcements will be made as soon as possible."
