EFL accuses Uefa of 'unwillingness to cooperate' after three fixtures forced to reschedule

The English Football League has accused Uefa of an “unwillingness to cooperate” after the European governing body’s scheduling of Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid on 9 September forced the rearrangement of three domestic fixtures — Everton v Wolves and Liverpool v Tottenham in the Carabao Cup third round, and Wolves v Portsmouth in the Championship.

Everton and Wolves had already been set to meet in the Carabao Cup on that date when Uefa announced the Liverpool–Atletico Madrid tie for the same evening. Because Everton and Liverpool cannot both host home fixtures simultaneously, the EFL was left with no option but to move all three affected games.

In a strongly worded statement, the EFL said it met with Uefa officials on Monday morning to explore alternatives, only to be told the European body would not consider moving the Champions League fixture out of respect for supporters who had already arranged international travel. “This makes Uefa’s unwillingness to cooperate all the more frustrating, not least for the supporters of the five impacted clubs,” the EFL said, adding a direct apology to fans for the inconvenience.

The league also used the statement to revisit a longer-running grievance: that Uefa’s expansion of its club competitions was carried out “without adequate consultation with domestic leagues”. The EFL noted it had already made significant concessions in response, including splitting Carabao Cup third-round ties across two weeks and introducing draw conditions designed to prevent exactly this kind of scheduling conflict for clubs competing in the Champions League and Europa League.

Uefa pushed back, insisting it “always does its best to accommodate reasonable requests wherever possible”. The governing body said no scheduling conflict had been flagged during the fixture-planning process, and that the clash only became apparent after both sets of fixture lists had been published — at which point, it argued, changes were no longer feasible given the number of supporters who may have already booked travel and accommodation.

Everton v Wolves has been moved to Wednesday, 16 September, while Liverpool v Tottenham — originally scheduled for that date — has been shifted to a new date yet to be confirmed at the time of publication.