In a disappointing announcement for the international fans of the league, Richard Scudamore, the chairman of the Premier League has said that the 39th game plan does not seem possible anymore due to the overwhelming negative reaction from the fans in UK.
The original plan was to have all the clubs play a 39th match (the penultimate match of the season) at different venues across the globe, giving the league’s global audience a chance to witness the magic of the Premier League up close and personal. That however does not seem like a possibility anymore, according to Scudamore.
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“I don’t think it’s as likely as it was then only because I think the fan reaction to it has been so negative in the UK,” said Scudamore to CNN. “The core part of our show is that attending fan. Until you can get them comfortable with the idea I don’t think it’s really going to happen.”
Scudamore does a complete U-turn on the 39th game
It was only last year that Scudamore had addressed the media saying that they were still working towards making the 39th match a reality, and that it was only a matter of time before that actually happened. However, this does not seem to be much of an option right now, as the Premier League chief seems to have ruled out the possibility of the 39th match.
“It was more of a hedge against our commercial future and of course since that’s happened our commercial success has gone on growing and growing and growing both in the UK and internationally,” said Scudamore.