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(Adds Alex Ferguson attending funeral) BELFAST, Nov 28 - George Best will be buried in
his home town of Belfast on Saturday after a funeral service at
Stormont, home to Northern Ireland's parliament buildings, his
agent said on Monday. Thousands are expected to gather in the grounds of Stormont
and line the streets leading to the 164-hectare estate on
Saturday to pay tribute to the former Manchester United winger,
who died on Friday. "The details are not finalised, but it will be at Stormont
and it will be on Saturday," Phil Hughes told Reuters. Adrian Donaldson, Chief Executive of Castlereagh Borough
Council, which is helping to organise the service, said the
funeral would be held in Stormont's Great Hall at 11 a.m. (1100
GMT). "That will be for around 300 guests," Donaldson told Irish
state broadcaster RTE. "It is expected that there will be
several hundred thousand people who will turn up to the actual
Stormont parliamentary estate to mourn the passing of George
Best." Donaldson said the service would be relayed on television
screens to those gathered in the grounds, nine km east of
Belfast. "We have a number of stars who have agreed to appear and
perform at the service," Donaldson added. Belfast-born TV
presenter Eamonn Holmes will be master of ceremonies. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will attend the
funeral and then fly back for his side's Premier League match at
Old Trafford against Portsmouth, which kicks off at 1715. "For once, a 1715 kickoff will help us," United assistant
secretary Ken Ramsden told Sky Sports News. "The manager will be planning to go there, with one or two
others. Obviously the players can't, or the players likely to
play can't, but full representation of the club will be there
and then we'll look beyond that." Best, widely regarded as the only British footballer in the
same league as Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, died of
multiple organ failure in hospital after years of heavy
drinking. The 59-year-old Northern Irishman had suffered infection and
internal bleeding and had problems with his liver and kidneys. Fans and players observed a minute's silence or applauded
before matches on Saturday and Sunday in a nationwide series of
tributes to Best.
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