Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir Alex Ferguson has accused television companies of enslaving English football and argued that Premier League clubs should be given a bigger slice of revenues from overseas sales. When Manchester United face Norwich City on Saturday it will be the first game of their season when the traditional kick-off time of 3pm has not been moved to accommodate television. Every one of their away games in the Premier League has been shifted from its scheduled start time.
Although clubs like United earn around £4.3m each time their games are broadcast live, Ferguson believes television now has too much power over the fixture list. Speaking on the BBC's "North-West Tonight" programme, the Manchester United manager said: "When you shake hands with the devil you have to pay the price. Television is God at the moment. It can show itself quite clearly because when you see the fixture lists come out, they can pick and choose whenever they want the top teams on television.
"You get some ridiculous situations sometimes when you are playing on a Wednesday night in Europe and then at lunchtime the following Saturday. You ask any manager if they would pick that themselves and the answer would be: 'No chance'. You need 72 hours to prepare yourself. They (the TV companies) do not consider how well we are doing in Europe. When we played Benfica, they changed their (domestic) fixture immediately they knew it was United they were playing. The importance of doing well in Europe is greater there than it is in our country."
Ferguson also argued clubs should receive more than the £17m they are awarded annually from the sale of overseas rights. "The Premier League sells their product to 212 countries around the world," he said. "And when you think of that, I don't think we get enough money." But he had no appetite for United negotiating their own TV rights deals. "I don't think that is fair. There should be equal shares," he said.
Manchester United v Basle, Page 61
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments