[/floatr]Yomiuri: X-League apologizes for Pirates forfeit
The X-League on Sunday apologized to fans and the media for the mixup that forced the Meiji Yasuda Pirates to forfeit the opening game of the Pearl Bowl tournament Saturday to the Fuji Xerox AFC. The transport company delivering the Pirates' equipment to Tokyo's Oi No. 2 Stadium got the 11 a.m. game time wrong, causing the game in the corporate football league's spring tournament to be abandoned, the league said in a statement. "It's really regretable that such a rudimentary mistake could be made in the game to kick off the 2008 season," the statement said. "We deeply apologize for the trouble to the fans looking forward to the game and to the media and others concerned." The Pearl Bowl tournament involves the 12 Kanto region teams of the X-League's East and West divisions, culminating in the title game on June 17 at Tokyo Dome.
