World Footy News

The 2005 Bali 9s footy tournament has been cancelled in the wake of the terrorist bombings last weekend that killed at least 22 people on the popular holiday island.

Tournament organiser Peter Muir told The Weekend Australian newspaper that sides from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Jakarta had pulled out of the competition scheduled for this Saturday, stating that "About half the guys still wanted to come, and I personally wanted it to go ahead. But at the end of the day you need teams to compete."

The tournament was to feature the Jakarta Bintangs, Malaysian Warriors and Singapore Wombats, as well as a memorial service to commemorate the October 2002 bombings in Bali when several Australian rules football players were among the 88 Australians killed out of a total of 202 deaths. The full story can be read here.