Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Manchester United on Wednesday for a second stint with the club, but his first appearance back since he left the club has been retouched from the United Television broadcast. The original broadcast, which was shown on MUTV, had Ronaldo appearing on camera for a few seconds to say farewell to the fans, but this has been edited out.
Ronaldo ended his six-year tenure at Real Madrid by retiring from the game following a match against La Liga rivals Barcelona. His decision to call time on his career marks an end to an era for the Portuguese superstar and the end of an era for Real Madrid as well, as he was one of the key players in their three-time European Cup winning run under Carlo Ancelotti.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United return is set to be one of the most watched football fixtures in years, but only if the European Champions are playing Barcelona in the Champions League final, which is quite unlikely.
As the football world continues to work through the first international break of the season, many fans are looking forward to the weekend, as the Premier League prepares for Cristiano Ronaldo’s possible return to Manchester United.
Ronaldo has returned to United after a decade away, and he may make his second appearance against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Ronaldo departed the Portugal team on Wednesday and traveled into the United Kingdom on Friday, only days after becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in men’s internationals. He arrived to United’s Carrington training facility on Tuesday after completing his required five-day quarantine period, where he will only have time to fit in a handful of training sessions with his new/old team before their next game.
Look who’s made an appearance at Carrington! @Cristiano #MUFC ole ole ole ole ole ole ole ole ole
September 7, 2021 — Manchester United (@ManUtd)
Despite completing his blockbuster move from Juventus just eight days ago, sources have informed ESPN’s Rob Dawson that United remain optimistic that the 36-year-old will be healthy and ready to play at least some role.
The bad news for United supporters in the United Kingdom is that the Newcastle match will not be aired live on television, depriving millions of fans the opportunity to see him play in the No. 7 jersey for the first time since 2009.
It is too late to change the Man United-Newcastle match from its 3 p.m. kick-off schedule, which means it will not be televised live in the United Kingdom. This is due to a rule that has been in effect in the United Kingdom for more than 40 years: the “3 p.m. blackout,” as it is called.
On a Saturday between 2.45 p.m. and 5.15 p.m., no game of any type, be it Premier League, Championship, Bundesliga, or LaLiga, may be aired live on British television. The FA Cup final was previously exempt from the regulation, but since 2012, the Wembley extravaganza has begun at 5:15 p.m.
The regulation has been in effect since the 1960s, when it was suggested by Burnley chairman Bob Lord, who claimed that televising typical 3 p.m. Saturday kick-offs would have a detrimental impact on match-going crowds throughout the English football pyramid, from the top tier to non-league amateur fixtures. Football has been aired on British television since 1938, but it wasn’t until the late 1950s and early 1960s that regular live matches became a staple in the schedules.
2 Related
Lord was convinced that broadcasting 3 p.m. kickoffs on television would “harm and undermine” stadium attendance by encouraging fans to remain at home and watch the game. To avoid this, he went so far as to prohibit cameras from broadcasting live games at Turf Moor for the next five years. Lord, a vocal opponent of televised football in general, eventually persuaded his other Football League chairmen that broadcasting 3 p.m. kick-offs would destroy their valuable matchday income streams, and it was quickly adopted nationally. Since then, the regulation has been followed, and the last day of the Premier League season is always set on a Sunday, enabling all 10 matches to take place at the same time at 3 p.m.
The broadcast restriction was lifted last year as part of the Premier League’s “Project Restart” to enable supporters who had been banned from stadiums due to the COVID-19 epidemic to watch matches being played behind closed doors, but it was restored for the 2021-22 season when people returned to games.
While all radio coverage is exempt, the regulation applies to all international matches broadcast live in the United Kingdom, with several stations needing to begin coverage of certain Spanish and Italian games (for example) after the first half has already ended.
The only people in the United Kingdom who will be allowed to witness Cristiano Ronaldo’s comeback will be Manchester United supporters at Old Trafford. Getty Images/OLI SCARFF/AFP
Article 48 of UEFA’s statutes states that any member association can designate a two-and-a-half-hour slot on a Saturday or Sunday during which televised transmission of football is prohibited. This began as an agreement between Football League chairmen in the 1960s and is now effectively part of UEFA’s rules.
The regulation is followed in England not to preserve Premier League attendances, but to protect attendances at all levels of the English football pyramid — Europe’s deepest league structure in terms of matchday attendances.
It’s also not in place to deter season-ticket holders from attending a lower-league club’s game in favor of viewing a glamorous Premier League match on television. It’s to encourage casual fans to keep the doors open at smaller clubs, bringing in much-needed traffic and income.
Many of these lower-league teams depend largely on the revenue generated around 3 p.m. on Saturdays to remain afloat.
Of course, there’s no way of knowing whether rescinding the regulation will have a significant negative impact on attendance and revenue, throwing the whole pyramid into chaos. Despite the fact that a Premier League game is being shown on television, supporters may still choose to wait in the howling wind and pouring rain to watch their local teams at 3 p.m. on a Saturday, but the danger of the pyramid collapsing from the bottom up is just too high.
– LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, and more on ESPN+ (U.S.) – Watch ESPN FC every day on ESPN+ (U.S. only) – Don’t have access to ESPN? Get immediate access
You may be asking why other top leagues in Europe and across the globe don’t follow the same regulation, and the answer is simple: none of them regard Saturday at 3 p.m. with the same degree of respect throughout the league structure as English/British football does. In reality, other major leagues like as LaLiga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), and Serie A (Italy) do not even qualify for a broadcast restriction owing to the greater dispersion of kick-off times.
In order for a 2.5-hour broadcast restriction to be imposed, 50 percent of games in the top two divisions must start at the same time, according to UEFA rules. This is the case in England and Scotland (73 percent and 90 percent, respectively), while it is just 28 percent in Germany. It’s just 15% in Italy, and there are no simultaneous LaLiga kick-offs in Spain to prevent clustering.
Since the 19th century, the 3 p.m. Saturday kick-off has been part of the fabric of English football, as workers from all over the nation would pour out of factories after a morning shift and go directly to football fields. The truth is that no other league approaches the issue in the same manner.
So there you have it: the reason why Manchester United supporters won’t be able to see Ronaldo’s comeback is one that dates back to the very origins of English league football and is in place to safeguard the sport’s future.
Dale Johnson of ESPN contributed to this story.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a move to Manchester United since it emerged he would be leaving Real Madrid this summer. In recent weeks, the rumours have intensified, with the Portuguese star believed to have agreed a five-year deal with the Red Devils. However, the sport’s governing body, the Football Association, has been quick to squash the story, with a spokesperson stating, “The FA has been made aware of the speculation around this story. The FA does not comment on stories involving players whilst they are under contract with another club.”. Read more about ronaldo transfer news today and let us know what you think.
Related Tags
- man utd sign ronaldo 2003
- ronaldo to man utd done deal
- man utd news
- how old is cristiano ronaldo
- mufc
