It was announced on Thursday after Arsenal's win at Manchester City, which kept the Gunners within a point of fourth place, that their home game against Wigan would be shown live on Sky Sports. The other game to be shown simultaneously by the broadcaster focuses on the battle for second place.
Manchester United, a point above third placed Liverpool going into the final weekend of fixtures have been selected to have their home game against Charlton Athletic shown live. So why does fourth placed Spurs not get shown? And why are supporters without a ticket for the game being forced to miss out, despite efforts by the club to give them what they want.
The club issued a statement apologising to its supporters shortly after announcing that the game would be televised on the jumbotron with a £5 entry fee.
‘We moved quickly and at short notice to try and stage the screening, but clubs have been informed late this afternoon (Friday) that no match can be screened live if there is a live game being televised on Sky at the same time.'
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust remarked, ‘Not only is Sky not showing the game when we are still in contention for fourth place, but now they are not even allowing a live beam back.'
Yesterday, it was also confirmed that Sky won four of the six television rights packages up for grabs. Following an agreement with the European Commission the Premier League had been forced to end Sky's monopolising of the rights from the start of the 2007/08 season, which had lasted ever since the League was formed.