Arsenal's Arsene Wenger hits out at decision to televise Chelsea-Man Utd at same time as FA Cup semi-final

Arsene Wenger has called for action to prevent the football authorities and broadcasters in England ever again scheduling an FA Cup semi-final at the same time as a major Premier League match.

Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final against Reading at Wembley on Saturday will be screened live on the BBC and kick-off at 5.20pm, only 10 minutes before the Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester United eight miles down the road at Stamford Bridge. It is a situation that Wenger finds unacceptable.

“Something should be done about it,” said Wenger. “I'm surprised that they did not analyse that in television deals because basically what happens there, it is something that should have been planned, that two television channels who pay a lot of money for football, have conflicted interests in promoting games. That inside the country shouldn't happen.”

Asked if the FA Cup semi-final should be competing with a Premier League match, Wenger said: “No, you would like it 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.” The final decision for the matches to go head-to-head was taken by the BBC and the Football Association although it could be argued that Sky and the Premier League provoked the clash by moving Chelsea v Manchester United to 5.30pm on the Saturday of an FA Cup semi-final weekend.

^{Annoyed: Arsene Wenger doesn't think two big matches should take place at same time}

Sky Sports and the Premier League had announced in February that the game between Chelsea and Manchester United would be screened at 5.30pm when it was still highly possible for United to be involved in one of the FA Cup semi-finals. Had that happened, the FA Cup would have taken priority and the Chelsea match would almost certainly have been rescheduled for live coverage on a weekday evening. There is a theory, then, that Sky chose the Manchester United and Chelsea game in the knowledge that there was a good chance that the fixture would have to be moved until later in the season. The BBC and FA clearly then decided that they should not back away from the prime-time Saturday evening slot just because Sky had scheduled their highest profile game of the season at that time.

The dates for the FA Cup semi-finals were set last summer and so it could also be argued that it would be better for the Premier League to keep the leading clubs apart on this weekend so as to avoid any prospect of a major clash. As it is, many football fans will have to choose between live coverage of the two matches on Saturday. The BBC said yesterday that a variety of factors would have been considered before they opted for the 5.20pm slot.

^{Two key games will be played at the same time on Saturday evening}

"The scheduling was agreed after conversations with the FA and Police," a BBC spokesman said. "We hope our audience will enjoy the underdogs Reading against the holders Arsenal live on BBC One followed by extended highlights of Chelsea v Man Utd on MotD on Saturday evening."

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The fact that the FA Cup game is on terrestrial television will clearly guarantee a larger audience than the Chelsea v Manchester United match. A peak of 8.9 million viewers watched the game between Arsenal and Manchester United in the previous round of the FA Cup. With only eight miles between Wembley and Stamford Bridge, the virtual simultaneous scheduling of the matches will also ensure a major policing operation in west London on Saturday evening. The kick-off times, however, can only be confirmed with the approval both of the police and local authorities.