Chelsea’s Women’s Super League game against Manchester United has been postponed at a week’s notice due to the scheduling of their opening Champions League match.
UEFA announced the Champions League fixtures on Saturday following Friday’s draw, with Chelsea’s home game against Real Madrid set for Tuesday, October 8. That presented a potential issue with Chelsea’s WSL home fixture against Manchester United, which had been scheduled for Sunday, October 6.
Chelsea say they had been in talks to resolve the scheduling issue, with the club raising concerns over player welfare due to the proximity of the two games. Chelsea added that they tried to seek alternative arrangements to play both matches safely but those were ultimately unsuccessful.
“We are extremely disappointed with the outcome but wish to reiterate that player welfare and the impact on our supporters are of the utmost importance to us,” a Chelsea statement said.
United’s visit to Chelsea had also been selected by Sky Sports for live broadcast, with that announcement coming on August 21.
“We apologise for any inconvenience to fans,” the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) said. “In this instance, we have to put player welfare first and we will announce a new date for the fixture in due course. We thank the clubs and Sky Sports for their understanding as we work on a resolution.”
A UEFA statement added: “For the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage draw, there are two well-established draw principles concerning teams from the same national association.
“The first prevents teams from the same national association from being drawn into the same group and the second pairs two teams, in this case the highest seeds Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC, to ensure that they play on different days of every match week.
“For associations with three teams in the competition, the third team, in this case Manchester City is not subject to TV pairing restrictions as it is not mathematically possible with only two days per match week. These principles have been clearly communicated in advance and have been common practice since the introduction of the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage in the 2021-22 season.”
(Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
