Football: Capello-Cannavaro clash upstaged by boy band

Shanghai (AFP) – Chinese football fans anticipating the first clash between the “Fabios” — Italian heavyweight coaches Cannavaro and Capello — will have to wait as their sides have been bumped from a stadium this weekend by China’s hottest boy band.

The Tianjin-Jiangsu clash was scheduled for Sunday at the stadium on the grounds of the Olympic Sports Center in the eastern city of Nanjing — Jiangsu Suning’s home pitch — but it now conflicts with a concert in an adjacent indoor arena by the wildly popular TFBOYS.

The Chinese Football Association said Tuesday the game would be postponed until September 28 for “security” reasons.

A separate statement by the Chinese Super League’s official broadcaster, China Sports Media, said the Nanjing sports complex would be unable to provide adequate security for both events on the same day.

The Chinese Super League match had been scheduled months ago. It was not immediately clear how the scheduling snafu occurred.

The TFBOYS, whose name stands for “The Fighting Boys”, have won millions of passionate female Chinese fans with their schoolboy looks and bubblegum dance pop.

The band’s three teenage members had announced last month that they would hold concerts in Nanjing this Friday and Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary since they formed.

Both shows have been sold out, with tickets going for as much as 1,880 yuan ($280), according to the website of Yongle, the concerts’ designated ticket vendor.

Cannavaro, Italy’s World Cup-winning captain in 2006, has led Tianjin to a current third place in the Super League.

Capello, a former England, Real Madrid and Russia manager, was hired in June to revive the fortunes of struggling Jiangsu Suning.

But his side is still near the bottom of the table despite possessing talent like Brazilian duo Ramires and Alex Teixeira.