The New York Red Bulls were set to play Real Salt Lake on Thursday in a preseason game, then issued a cryptic tweet that has left everyone wondering what the hell is going on.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will not be playing Real Salt Lake on Thursday. We will play a closed-door match. Our opponent’s technical staff has asked that the match not be streamed or photographed. No information will be provided from the game.
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) February 14, 2019
The way the Red Bulls phrased this makes the events sound as sinister as possible. There’s nothing new about closed-door games, but the idea that there would be no photos, or any information that it existed is just plain weird.
This is compounded by the fact the Red Bulls have removed the game from their website (as have MLS), but Real Salt Lake is still showing the game as scheduled for today on its site.
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The answer is probably totally boring, like the team didn’t make their flight or something — but the manner in which the Red Bulls issued their statement led to a Twitter-wide guessing game.
Real Salt Lake couldn't get their mobile tickets to work?
— FUT Watch (@FutWatch) February 14, 2019
Apologies, but I have 56 follow-up questions...
— John K. Painting (@zorrocat) February 14, 2019
So, why even include the second sentence if it is a super-secret match?
— RandymH (@RandymH) February 14, 2019
— #MachadoToTheYankeesSZN (@Phishman77) February 14, 2019
— g (@CNYer1985) February 14, 2019
We’ll keep following this weird match in case more information is revealed.