Wimbledon v World Cup... it all kicks off!
Anger as football showpiece is timed to clash with men’s final
IT is a clash that will divide families and has prompted a furious war of words between two of sport’s titans.
For the World Cup final has been scheduled to kick off in the middle of the Wimbledon men’s singles final.
Yesterday the All England Club, which runs the SW19 tournament, expressed anger that Fifa, football’s governing body, had ignored its pleas to avoid a fixture clash.
While both semi-finals will kick off at 7pm British time, the final in Moscow is at 4pm (6pm local time) – a mere two hours after the start of Wimbledon’s showpiece.
There are fears that it will significantly dampen interest in the men’s tennis decider – usually one of the biggest events of the sporting year – epecially if the England team continues its run and reaches the World Cup final.
The clash has infuriated broadcasters, including the BBC, which has paid millions to screen both events. It means the tennis will start on BBC1 but switch to BBC2 at 3pm to make way for the football, leaving families to argue over which sporting showpiece to watch.
Fifa says the World Cup schedule was set two and a half years ago, giving Wimbledon plenty of time to avoid a clash.
But the All England Club has ruled out rescheduling its final, sticking to the traditional 2pm start, and says this would have been the case even if Andy Murray had been involved.
Mick Desmond, a director at the All England Club, said: ‘It’s slightly surprising Fifa had the idea of kick- off at four o’clock. It’s not something they’ve done in the past but that’s the decision. There was dialogue, and there was dialogue between the broadcasters.’
The intervention prompted an equally feisty response from Fifa, which pointed out that the decision was taken in December 2015 and that ‘interested parties’ were aware of the reasoning.
Fifa has insisted that the kick-off time is appropriate, taking viewing figures across the world into account. ‘We got the question a long time ago and we answered the question a long time ago,’ a spokesman said.
‘The kick- off times for the Fifa World Cup were set in cooperation with a range of stakeholders and taking into account a number of aspects such as the global broadcast market and feasibility for the fans. I understand now people are waking up [to the clash] but the decision was already made.’
It means that as the World Cup final kicks off, Wimbledon could be nearing its climax – the average time of a men’s final since 2002 is just under three hours, while the 2008 final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal lasted a record four hours and 48 minutes. Only two men’s finals have been shorter than one hour 50 minutess.
Critics of Fifa’s decision questioned why the final could not kick off at 7pm BST – 9pm Moscow time – as the semi-finals will. The last World Cup final in Europe, in Berlin in 2006, kicked off at 7pm UK time, while the 2014 final in Brazil began at 8pm (4pm local time) and the 2010 final in South Africa started at 7.30pm UK time (8.30pm local time).
The men’s Wimbledon final can be a huge draw for the BBC, with a record 13.3million watching Sir Andy Murray win the title for a second time in 2016.
Wimbledon bosses insist that viweing figures will not be affected by the clash and have ruled out showing the World Cup final on screens within the grounds – even if England are involved.