A tit-for-tat row between 2016 AFC Champions League finalists Al Ain and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has seen this weekend’s visitors change training base, repeating the Boss’ behaviour from South Korea.
The Green Warriors are believed to have departed for Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace, where they will be at until Wednesday night.
They were reportedly unhappy about the condition of the adjoining pitches allocated at Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium, their host’s usual training venue, in which they practiced at 16:30 on Monday following their morning arrival in the UAE.
They were told the preferred facility at Tahnoun Bin Mohamed Stadium – Al Ain’s home from 1987-2006 – was not ready until Thursday. This caused them to exit the Garden City, in a repeat of Al Ain’s behaviour before Saturday’s 2-1 first-leg loss.
Got some esteemed company on tonight's flight to Dubai, with the @Jeonbuk_hyundai team & coach Choi #ACL2016 #alain pic.twitter.com/6DGvlvbwbh
— Matt Monaghan (@mattmonaghan360) November 20, 2016
Access to a field near the club’s Jeonju World Cup Stadium was granted upon arrival last Wednesday. But a lack of floodlights and a desire to train at night in order to experience conditions at kick-off meant this was deemed unacceptable.
An alternative location was sourced by Al Ain in response.
Thursday evening’s run-out then occurred at Wolmyeong Stadium in Sa Jung-Dong, Gunsan, which is more than one hour’s journey by car from their original location.
The two teams are set to meet on Saturday for the decider at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
