No change to Milan-Juventus
Thursday 28 April, 2005
The Italian Football League have dismissed reports that the Milan-Juventus game will be switched to an evening kick-off.
The Lega Calcio have today confirmed that the Week 35 Scudetto showdown will take place at 3pm local time.
"With regards to this morning’s stories in various newspapers, the President of the Lega Nazionale Professionisti would like to confirm that the Milan-Juventus game on May 8 will start at 15.00 hours," read a statement.
It was widely expected that the fixture would take place under floodlights in a bid to increase TV audiences.
Whispers suggest that Milan were keen on the idea, even if it went against Italian rules which state that the last four rounds of Serie A must be played simultaneously.
However, Juventus boss Fabio Capello and director general Luciano Moggi allegedly objected, preferring to stick with the afternoon schedule.
There was also believed to be friction between Sky Italia and state broadcasters RAI over the time of the game.
Sky, who will show the tie live, were in favour of a night match. But RAI were not, fearing that their audience share for early evening shows such as ’90 Minuto’ and ‘Stadio Sprint’ would be hit.