- The match will be a repeat of last year’s Manchester derby, won by Manchester City.
- The Met has taken an increasingly cautious approach to football in recent years.
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The FA Cup final starts at 3pm next month, creating a clash with rugby’s European Champions Cup final and a scheduling nightmare for rights holders ITV.
Mail Sport has learned that the Metropolitan Police does not want the Manchester derby to start later due to the risk of crowd trouble at Wembley in a replay of last year’s final, when the start time was brought forward from 5am to 3:00 p.m.: 3:00 p.m. for the first time since 2011.
The FA’s preference is for matches to start early in the afternoon as they generate larger television audiences in the UK and US in particular, but sources at Wembley are resigned to the Cup final starting at its traditional time. from 3:00 p.m.
The start time is expected to be confirmed later this week following talks between the FA, Met Police, Brent Council and television rights holders BBC and ITV.
While Manchester United and City fans traveling to London are likely to welcome the 3pm kick-off, the decision will be a major commercial blow for the FA and broadcasters, particularly ITV, due to to the clash with the final of the Champions Cup, which will be held in It starts at 2:45 p.m.
The FA Cup final starts at 3pm next month and the Metropolitan Police are concerned about the risk of crowd trouble at Wembley.
The match will be played between Manchester United and Manchester City for the second year in a row.
The change in start times creates a clash with ITV which also broadcasts the European Rugby Cup on the same day.
ITV has the rights to both matches and is likely to show the rugby on ITV4, which will have major implications for its viewing figures.
Rugby authorities are also unhappy with the clash as one of the biggest events of the club season, with Northampton and Harlequins in the semi-finals alongside Leinster and Toulouse, is likely to be completely overshadowed.
However, tournament organisers, the European Rugby Cup Ltd, are unwilling to change the start time of the Champions Cup, which was chosen to avoid clashes in France with coverage of the Cannes Film Festival and the final of the French Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, which is also scheduled for May 25.
Another possible complication has been created by the fact that the Champions Cup final will be held at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, although the Met has not expressed concern about two major sporting events taking place in London on the same day.
The Met has taken an increasingly cautious approach to policing football in recent years, and the EFL is unhappy at being forced to bring forward this year’s Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea to 3pm.
The FA declined to comment.
