The Football Association have announced that the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United will commence at 3pm on June 3 - as Mail Sport exclusively revealed almost 24 hours prior.
Mail Sport broke the news on Monday afternoon, which the FA confirmed on Tuesday in a short statement of their own.
It will be the first time in 12 years that the showpiece will kick off at 3pm - when the two Manchester rivals meet at Wembley.
'The 2022-23 Emirates FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Manchester United will kick off at 3pm,' the FA stated.
'The first FA Cup Final between the Manchester clubs will take place on Saturday 3 June at Wembley Stadium connected by EE.
'The match will be broadcast in the UK on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, ITV, ITVX, UTV, STV and STV Player.
'Winning and losing clubs in the Final will receive £2,000,000 and £1,000,000 respectively from the competition’s prize fund.
'More details on the FA Cup Final will be released in due course.'
Mail Sport revealed on Monday that the Metropolitan Police raised concerns about the FA's preference for an evening game as the first ever all-Manchester final has been classed a high-risk fixture so the governing body have reverted to the cup final's traditional kick-off time.
The move will be welcomed by traditionalists and fans of both clubs, many of whom would have faced a dash across London to catch the last train back to Manchester had the police permitted an evening kick-off.
It is understood that the FA did not attempt to contest the police advice and accepted their decision despite the fact that later kick-offs are more attractive to broadcasters and advertisers.
The FA Cup final has been an evening event since 2012 when Chelsea's win over Liverpool was moved to 5:15pm to prevent a clash with the final round of Premier League fixtures, and the resultant commercial benefits have seen the game kick off at 4:45pm at the earliest ever since.
In addition to police concerns the FA's room for manoeuvre this year has been further restricted by a clash of dates with the Derby at Epsom, which will also take place on June 3.
To compound matters both the FA Cup and the Derby will be broadcast live on ITV, who in talks with the FA and the Jockey Club expressed their determination to do both events justice by avoiding minimising the overlap in their coverage.
The Derby is currently listed as being run at 4:30pm, but is now set to be put back until after ITV's cup final programming has concluded.
Ironically racing could benefit from the later running as ITV are likely to inherit much of the football audience, although the cup final will also be shown live on BBC1.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0