The plan was thought to give an unnecessary advantage to bigger clubs such as Manchester United…
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has revealed that the plan to have a 39th league match has been shelved for the foreseeable future, reports the Daily Mail.
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The weight of opposition to the idea, as well as “other factors” are why it has no chance of happening in the near future. This news came at the same time that it was confirmed that some Premier League matches will be shown on Friday evenings from the 2016/17 season onwards.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “The clubs are keen for us to keep developing the concept but we’re no nearer. The idea of an extra game is gone. Whether you play an extra season game (overseas), that has challenges, not least among the fans, which we take into consideration.”
Groups against the 39th game plan included UEFA and FIFA when it was first put forward in 2008. The extra match was supposed to take place abroad so that clubs were able to take advantage of their large overseas followings. However, this is thought to give an undue advantage to the bigger teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal who have more fans than smaller sides.