The Premier League yesterday released a short statement dealing with the concerns raised by fan groups over Christmas Eve fixture this year.
A few days ago the Football Supporters’ Federation released a brief statement addressing speculation that the game between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium would be moved to Christmas Eve and given a 4pm kick off – the concern of course was fans getting home and having to choose between attending the game and family commitments.
With a mixed reaction amongst football to the idea, the Premier League have held discussions with broadcasters and come to the agreement that should game(s) take place on Christmas Eve, they will kick off earlier in the day – categorically not at 4pm or later – to cause less distruption to travelling fans.
‘Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore clarified that the December selections for live UK broadcast will be confirmed on 19 October, with the possibility the selection of New Year fixtures will take a further week to confirm. Richard also made clear that there will not be a match at 4pm GMT (or later) on Christmas Eve (24 December) but was unable to comment regarding earlier kick-off times on that date as discussions between the Premier League and the clubs are ongoing.’
Source: premierleague.com.
Now we wait to see which games will be switched, as Manchester United’s trip to Leicester City and Newcastle United’s trip to West Ham United are all apparently up for discussion as well.
