Motherwell have hit out at the kick-off time for their Premier Sports Cup clash with Celtic – and insist the holders aren’t happy either.
The broadcaster and main sponsor for the Cup has scheduled both halves of the Old Firm to play their respective ties on the same evening. Well host Celtic at Fir Park on Wednesday, October 19 but with an early kick-off of 6:15pm so the channel can also later show Rangers’ quarter-final home clash with Dundee at 8:15pm.
This hasn’t gone down well with Motherwell chief Alan Burrows, who insists it simply isn’t fair on either set of supporters. He revealed his club asked the broadcasters to run their game at the same time as Rangers vs Dundee but on another channel. However, his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Burrows said: “Both Motherwell and Celtic raised concerns around the kick-off time based on the difficulties it will present to supporters wishing to attend the match. We asked the broadcaster to consider having the two live matches, scheduled for that day, run simultaneously on different channels.
“However, we have been informed that this is not possible due to other contractual commitments and no other arrangement are possible. Whilst we an extremely keen to work with our broadcast partners and commercial sponsors to ensure they get maximum value for their investment in Scottish football, it’s a far from ideal scenario for fans of both clubs. We have been reassured that the circumstances surrounding this particular scheduling are extremely rare and unlikely to happen again.”
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Premier Sports Cup live broadcast picks
Kilmarnock vs Dundee United, Tuesday, October 18 (kick-off 7.45pm).
Motherwell vs Celtic, Wednesday, October 19 (kick-off 6.15pm)
Rangers vs Dundee, Wednesday, October 19 (kick-off 8.15pm).
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