Alan Brazil reacts as Sky Sports issue emerges for Everton v Manchester United, ‘Can you believe it?’
Alan Brazil has reacted after it has emerged Sky Sports is planning to silence the Everton fans’ planned protest against the 10-point deduction during the game against Manchester United on Sunday (26 November).
Speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday (23 November, 06:24am), the host said “can you believe it?” as he responded to the news that the broadcaster is expected to take steps to ensure potentially offensive language isn’t clearly audible during the live TV broadcast to comply with Ofcom’s rules [The Times].
It comes after Toffees fan group the 1878s, the organiser of the protest, has called on fans to chant “Premier League corrupt as [expletive]” in the 10th minute of the game at Goodison Park, while Brazil has called for action to now be taken against Manchester City and Chelsea following the Blues’ points deduction.
“Can you believe it,” said Brazil. “Off the top of my head, I can’t remember how many problems they had, but Manchester City have got a lot more as have Chelsea. They’ve clearly said Mr Abramovich was wrong and yet Everton are now fighting for their Premier League lives.
“It’s because City and Chelsea and, I’m not having a go at them because it’s nothing to do with the fans and the players, but just because they’ve got mega-money they can fight this and keep it going. It’s not right, they’ve got to make a date for this now they’ve punished Everton.”
Unjust
It isn’t too much of a surprise that Sky Sports is looking to avoid the potentially offensive chanting from being heard by the TV audience.
Ofcom’s strict rules, which state the broadcaster may turn down crowd noise or take other steps to lessen the clarity of the audio, have to be enforced to avoid being hit with a hefty fine.
There will no doubt still be plenty of attention drawn to the issue, though, as the Everton fans are almost certain to ensure their voices are heard.
As for the other point Brazil makes about Man City and Chelsea, it is absolutely time for the cases against those clubs to be answered as those matters have been drawn out for an awful long time.
A precedence has now been set following the decision against the Merseysiders and they should also be staring down the barrel of a tough ruling if they are found guilty of their alleged offences.
In other Everton news, a Jack Harrison clause has emerged after a “bizarre” turn of events.