Title-chasing Manchester City will be allowed to break the 50-year-old 3pm blackout on Saturday, May 6 so that their crucial Premier League game against Leeds United does not clash with the King’s Coronation.
The fixture, originally scheduled for Sunday May 7, has been brought forward a day because of City’s first-leg Champions League semi-final match against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday, May 9.
The match was scheduled to be shown on Sky Sports and that remains the case despite it now being in the Saturday afternoon blackout period.
That has blocked the broadcast of games at any level in England between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday since the 1960s in order to protect match attendances and participation at the grass-roots level.
However, the Premier League said in a statement: “The match will remain live on Sky Sports in the UK, subject to further consultation with relevant stakeholders.”
The league added that a lunchtime broadcast slot has been avoided “so as not to clash with the King’s Coronation”, while an evening kick-off is not possible because of a “lack of police resourcing”.
There are four Premier League matches that kick off at 3pm on May 6, with Liverpool v Brentford the early evening match starting at 5.30pm.
The blackout rule was not observed during the pandemic, when all Premier League matches were televised because supporters could not attend given the lockdown restrictions.
Pep Guardiola’s City, who beat Sheffield United in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, remain in contention to complete the treble.
They are five points behind Arsenal with two matches in hand, and host Mikel Arteta’s side at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
City have also had their outstanding fixture at Brighton scheduled for Wednesday May 24, with the Premier League campaign ending on Sunday May 28.