A friendly between Italian giants AC Milan and recently crowned Dutch champions Ajax Amsterdam in Beijing was canceled after the organizers failed to pay an appearance fee on time, Chinese media said Tuesday.

The report emerged after the Serie A club announced on its Twitter account on Friday that the game, scheduled for the Chinese capital on May 25, had been canceled for "organizational reasons."

A report on Sina Sports, one of China's top sports news portals, said AC Milan were expecting to be paid 50 percent of their 1.5 million euro ($2 million) appearance fee before an April 30 deadline. But the organizers "did not secure financial support for the project," leading to the automatic cancellation of the contract.

Other Chinese reports said that Ajax could potentially play another team in the game, called the Winoly Cup.

AFP - Global Times