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Richard Scudamore: 'Premier League open to winter break'

Scudamore: 'Premier League open to winter break'
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Richard Scudamore claims that FA Cup replays would need to be scrapped in order to allow a winter break in the Premier League.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has revealed that he is open to having a winter break.

Many have called for the English game to introduce a break around Christmas time, similar to that of other European leagues.

However, Scudamore says that nothing is likely to happen at the moment and that something such as FA Cup replays would need to be sacrificed.

"We have tried, but unless somebody is prepared to give something up, it is pretty hard," Scudamore told The Telegraph. "We offered to start the season a week early, which is difficult in terms of summer holidays, but we don't really want to be starting the season in July.

"You can understand why the 20 Premier League clubs, having come down from 22 to 20 [in 1995], are disinclined to reduce their games, from 380 games to something like 316 or 308 games. But if you look at who is taking more dates out of the calendar, it is Uefa and Fifa. They are the ones who have come along and taken the dates, not us.

"The August friendly has gone, but they are replacing it with nine weekend double-headers over two years, which rules more weekends out for us. It's a small consolation, but it has actually made things worse."

Scudamore has held his position since November 1999.

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A general shot of a Premier League football ahead of the Premier League clash between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park on October 30, 2016
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