The next Archbishop of Westminster has attacked the heads of the Premier League and Setanta Sports for holding football fixtures on Easter Day.
The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, who will be enthroned at Westminster next month, has written a strong letter of complaint to Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, and Trevor East, the director of sport at Setanta, for showing disdain for the religious traditions of Britain. Two Premier League games ”” Aston Villa v Everton and Manchester City v Fulham ”” are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Writing as Archbishop of Birmingham, along with the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, the Right Rev David Urquhart, he accused the league and the broadcaster of disregarding the importance of Easter Day and treading on the sensitivities of their employees and football supporters.
Um, if the matches are Sunday afternoon, what’s the problem? Folks can go to church on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Services are done by the afternoon. And if families want to go watch an afternoon football match, why shouldn’t they? I’m hoping the miniature golf place is open so my family can go play after brunch.
From [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/book-of-the-week-a-snappers-tale-of-heavens-fairways-1267045.html][i]The Independent[/i][/url], April 14, 1997:
“In the beginning was the word, but the word is not always God at Augusta. In the early 1970s, the final round of the Masters fell on Easter Sunday. The American television network, CBS, worried about losing church-going viewers, suggested changing tee-off times. In a wonderful story illustrating the self-obsession and autocracy of the man who created the Masters legend, Clifford Roberts is said to have angrily demanded “find out who’s in charge of Easter and let’s see if we can’t get them to change the dates”.