Manchester City will take on West Ham United in the Premier League on Wednesday and it was scheduled to be shown on BT Sport.
But sadly that game will not be available for the television audience.
This news has caused a number of questions as to why Man City’s game is not being shown on TV – despite them winning the Carabao Cup just a couple of days ago.
Well, as things stand you can blame the Chelsea vs Spurs game for that.
The Man City vs West Ham was originally scheduled for Tuesday and BT Sports had the right for that game. But then due to City’s Carabao Cup final commitment, the match vs the Hammers was shifted to Tuesday.
Now as things stand, BT Sport also have the rights to show, Chelsea’s game vs Spurs tonight and they have chosen to give priority to Stamford Bridge.
And you can understand why BT Sport have chosen to make this call given a lot of careers are at stake in that Chelsea vs Spurs game whereas Man City are expected to pick up a regulation win vs the Hammers.
Having said all this, the cancellation of such a big game has not gone down to well with the fans and making are accusing BT Sport of deliberately taking up rights for games which they knew are likely to clash.
“The original selection of these Manchester City fixtures for broadcast despite knowing that they would almost certainly be moved again suggests that BT Sport really couldn’t care less about match-going fans,” Football Supporters Federation chief executive Kevin Miles said(as reported by MEN).
“Inconveniencing supporters of five other clubs long since knocked out the League Cup raises this disregard to another level.
“Even with the usual deadlines for notice and guidelines for selection, changes to kick-off times and even dates are already hugely challenging for fans.
“These conditional TV picks, with their impossibly short notice periods, have a huge impact on an already busy schedule and simply shouldn’t be allowed.”
