EFL blasts Uefa after being forced to reschedule Carabao Cup fixtures

The English Football League (EFL) has accused Uefa of an “unwillingness to cooperate” after it says the European governing body’s stance forced them to rearrange three domestic fixtures.

Everton and Wolves were scheduled to play their Carabao Cup third-round tie on 9 September before Liverpool and Atletico Madrid’s Champions League clash was, on Saturday, announced for the same day.

As a result, that contest and two others – Liverpool v Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Wolves v Portsmouth in the Championship – have been rescheduled.

An EFL statement read: “On Saturday, Uefa announced that it had scheduled Liverpool v Atletico Madrid for the same date, despite it being clear that Everton and Liverpool cannot play home fixtures on the same evening.

“The EFL met with Uefa officials on Monday morning to explore available options, however in those discussions it was made clear that they were unwilling to consider rescheduling the Liverpool v Atletico Madrid fixture due to the impact on supporters travelling from overseas.

“Disappointingly, the League has therefore been forced to make changes.

“Over recent seasons the League has made a number of changes to accommodate the expansion of Uefa club competitions – a decision which was made without adequate consultation with domestic leagues.

“These changes have included splitting Carabao Cup round three ties across two weeks, and implementing draw conditions for round three which prevent scheduling conflicts for clubs playing in the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League.

“This makes Uefa’s unwillingness to cooperate all the more frustrating, not least for the supporters of the five impacted clubs, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Uefa, in response, insisted it “always does its best to accommodate reasonable requests”, but said the “potential conflict” only emerged after fixtures were published, when changes were no longer possible.

The European governing body said in a statement: “Uefa regularly receives scheduling requests from associations, leagues and clubs and always does its best to accommodate reasonable requests wherever possible.

“In this case, no issue had been raised with Uefa during the scheduling process, and the potential conflict only became apparent after the publication of the fixture lists.

“At that stage, it was not possible to make changes, particularly given the significant number of supporters who may already have arranged international travel and accommodation. We believe that these commitments deserve to be respected.

“Uefa remains in contact with the relevant stakeholders, and we appreciate all efforts to minimise any local operational challenges.”

Everton v Wolves is now set for Wednesday, 16 September; Liverpool v Tottenham, originally slated for 16 September, is now a day earlier and Wolves v Portsmouth, also initially due to be played on 16 September, will take place on 20 October.