Izuchukwu OkosiThe Football Association in England on Friday released a statement to clarify the decision to scrap the replay games from the third round of the oldest club competition in Europe – the FA Cup.
There has been widespread condemnation of the decision including from Downing Street as the competition is deemed as an avenue for football clubs in the lower pyramids of the game to drive their revenues through ticketing, broadcast rights and other matchday experience.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPremier League clubs have on several occasions lamented the fixture congestion that has impacted negatively on the fitness and health of their players.
The FA disclosed that they have “listened to the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours” and would like to “outline the approval process which was undertaken for the 2024-25 professional game football calendar”.
“We have been discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year,” the statement stated.
“Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue.”
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The FA further stated that they were “focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger” despite “having fewer dates available” and “wanting to maintain player welfare.”
“The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar,” the statement clarified.
The FA assured that the number of televised games in the early rounds will be increased which “will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams” and pledged to “review the prize money annually” with representatives from the EFL and Premier League.
“We understand the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and we will be sharing more details with clubs very shortly to explain the additional revenue opportunities in the early rounds,” the statement added.
“We will keep this under review as the new calendar begins to ensure that EFL and National League clubs do not lose out,” the statement concluded.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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