- Sky Sports are reportedly planning to drown out the crowd noise at Goodison Park
- Everton fans are planning to protest following the club’s recent punishment
- It’s the world against Everton – it could encourage the players to stay up – IAKO
Sky Sports are planning to reduce crowd noise at Goodison Park during their coverage of Everton’s clash with Man United ahead of planned fan protests.
The Toffees welcome the Red Devils to Merseyside on Sunday afternoon as they prepare for their first match since receiving a 10-point deduction from the league.
The Merseyside club were hit with the division’s biggest points deduction after it was found to have breached the league’s winning and sustainability rules.
Everton believe the punishment imposed on them last week was ‘unjust’ and in a statement released on Friday they said they would ‘follow with great interest the decisions taken in other cases relating to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules’ .
This seemed to allude to the fact that Manchester City are currently facing 115 charges for allegedly breaking financial regulations as far back as February.
Sky Sports are reportedly planning to reduce crowd noise during Everton’s clash with Man United
Toffees supporters are expected to express their frustrations over their 10-point deduction
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And fans, like club chiefs, will want to express their frustrations at the recent decision by staging a protest at their Premier League match.
According to the Times, Everton fans will chant ‘Premier League corrupt as f***’ in the tenth minute of the match.
Ofcom says broadcasters should avoid broadcasting material that could offend viewers, and with the start time being 4.30pm, there are concerns that families and children will watch in large numbers.
As a result, Sky Sports has had an internal meeting on the issue and sources said it is taking responsibility to protect its viewers and will try to reduce the offensive language heard on air.
Previously, broadcasters have reduced the volume of audience noise in similar cases and even introduced pre-recorded audience noise.
The outlet claims that an Everton fans group – called the 1878s – has raised more than £40,000 to fund protests and said they plan to hire a plane with a banner to fly over Manchester City’s match with Liverpool on Saturday, because it will be dark when the match takes place. Everton and United face off.
Wednesday Everton Director of Football Kevin Thelwell lamented their ‘completely disproportionate’ points penalty and insisted the club would use the ‘unjust’ ruling as ‘extra fuel’.
The points deduction dropped Sean Dyche’s side to 19th place in the table, above Burnley on goal difference alone. The club immediately confirmed its intention to appeal the decision.
In his first comments since last week’s decision, Thelwell lashed out at the ruling which removed the ‘hard-earned points’ from their account, while also issuing a rallying cry to both staff and supporters.
Everton were hit with the biggest points deduction in Premier League history
Kevin Thelwell broke his silence following last week’s Premier League decision to punish the club for breaching profit and sustainability rules
‘The clear and tangible impact on our league position as a result of this ruling can be clearly seen in the Premier League table.’ He wrote this in a message on the club’s website. ‘We come into action five places down from fourteenth after our hard-fought win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The three points from that victory may no longer count towards the rankings, nor the seven other hard-earned points collected this season.
“But what remains is the unity, focus and determination that helped earn those points on the playing field – now supplemented with the extra fuel of what we believe is a completely disproportionate ruling.
‘We are fighting a sporting sanction in the only way we can – and that is our focus and hard work to support the team to perform optimally on the pitch.’