Man Utd play down attack claim

Manchester United soccer club played down reports on Tuesday it may have been the target of a suicide bomb plot.

Britain's Sun newspaper said the club's 67,000-capacity Old Trafford stadium was the target of a terror attack plot by suspects arrested by police in raids on Monday.

Earlier Report UK cops foil soccer bomb plot

The Sun quoted an unnamed police source as saying the suspects had bought tickets for seats around the stadium for the English premier league match against Liverpool on Saturday.

"The plot involved several individual bombers in separate parts of the stadium," the source told the paper. "If successful, any such attack would have caused absolute carnage."

Ten people, said to be of North African and Iraqi Kurdish origin, were held under anti-terror laws in a series of raids involving 400 police across northern England on Monday.

Police said they were arrested "on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism."

Police and the Home Office (Interior Ministry) declined to comment on the Sun's report. "We cannot get into a running commentary on the intelligence and information behind police and security service operations," a Home Office spokeswoman said.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton of Greater Manchester Police said he was aware of "extensive speculation about possible targets".

"As with any counter-terrorist operation, we will not confirm or deny any targets," he said in a statement.

Townsend said the club was in contact with police, but stressed that was nothing out of the ordinary with two matches this week at the ground.

An attack during a match between Manchester United and Liverpool -- one of the bigger games in the English soccer calendar -- would have been broadcast live around the world. The clubs are third and fourth in English soccer's top league.

Britain is on high alert for attacks after the Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people on March 11. London police chief Sir John Stevens has repeatedly said an attack, most likely a suicide bombing, is inevitable.