Arsène Wenger has expressed amazement at the television scheduling clash on Saturday evening that means Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final with Reading will go head-to-head with the big Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Manchester United, saying that the two broadcasters involved have conflicting interests and that the television deals should prevent such an occurrence.
Arsenal’s Cup tie at Wembley kicks off at 5.20pm and will be televised by the BBC. The Premier League game at Stamford Bridge gets under way at 5.30pm and will be carried by Sky. Wenger believes that the semi-final of England’s prestige knockout competition ought to have its own slot, with no competition from other matches – particularly not Chelsea v United – and the Arsenal manager was outspoken on the matter.
“Something should be done about it,” Wenger said. “I’m surprised they did not analyse that in television deals because, basically, what happens there, it is something that should have been planned. Two television channels who pay a lot of money for football have conflicted interests in promoting games. That, inside the country, shouldn’t happen.
“You would like it [the Cup semi-final] to be the unique competition that is played, especially a semi-final and a final. You would want it not to conflict with other competitions. It is a surprise to me [that it goes up against a very big game].”