Manchester Police: "Incredibly Lifelike" Explosive Device "Not Viable" [UPDATE]

Police have concluded their assessment of the suspicious package that led to the abandonment of today’s Manchester United-Bournmouth match, concluding that while the device was “incredibly lifelike,” it was “not viable.”

Following the other nine matches already played, there is still an opportunity for Manchester United to make it into the Champions League— they just have to beat Bournemouth by 19 goals, whenever that match is finally played.

Update (5:30 p.m.): The fake bomb was accidentally left in the toilet by a company that had earlier been conducting a training exercise for dogs:

Following today’s controlled explosion, we have since found out that the item was a training device which had accidentally been left by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs.

Whilst this item did not turn out to be a viable explosive, on appearance this device was as real as could be, and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do, until we could be sure that people were not at risk.

Update (5:45 p.m.): Here are some photos of bomb-sniffing dogs, since we have an excuse to post them. Good dogs!