Wimbledon not happy about World Cup final clash
WIMBLEDON organisers say they are “surprised” by Fifa’s decision to schedule the World Cup final to overlap with the All England Club men’s final.
The scheduling could have a significant impact on viewing figures for the men’s final, which will be moved from BBC One to BBC Two for the first time because of the clash on Sunday July 15.
Mick Desmond, the All England Club’s commercial and media director, said yesterday that despite “dialogue”, the football governing body decided to schedule its match to begin two hours after the start of the tennis. Since 2002, the average length of the men’s final has been two hours and 45 minutes.
“It’s slightly surprising that Fifa has the kick-off at 4pm. It’s not something they’ve done in the past, but that’s their decision,” Mr Desmond said.
England’s victory over Colombia on Tuesday night brought in a peak of 24.4million viewers during the penalty shoot-out – roughly 81 per cent of the national viewing audience – more than any live sport event since England lost to Portugal on penalties at Euro 2004.
One person who was not watching was the Prime Minister, who found the penalties too “nerve-racking”, according to a Downing Street source.
Gareth Southgate, the England manager, yesterday hailed the shoot-out victory – England’s first in a World Cup – as an “important moment for everybody in our country”, as well as “the next generations” of footballers.