TV war means weekend's two biggest matches to be played at exact same time

The BBC will show Arsenal's match against Reading on Saturday evening, which kicks off at 5.20pm.

Then, 10 minutes later, Sky will broadcast Chelsea getting under way against Manchester United in one of the biggest matches of the Premier League season.

The totally absurd situation will see millions of fans missing one or other of the biggest games of the season, and it came about after the BBC insisted on sticking with the early-evening slot for the FA Cup match - a time which gives it the best chance of a large audience, and sets up its viewing for the rest of the night.

Yet Sky have also been accused of culpability over the problem, with the Daily Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson reporting a theory that: "Sky chose the Manchester United and Chelsea game in the knowledge that there was a good chance that the fixture would have to be moved until later in the season. The BBC and FA clearly then decided that they should not back away from the prime-time Saturday evening slot just because Sky had scheduled their highest profile game of the season at that time."

Whoever is to blame, the outrageous situation has drawn huge criticism from around the game - and not least from Arsene Wenger.

"Something should be done about it,” said Wenger in his Thursday press conference.

“I'm surprised that they did not analyse that in television deals because basically what happens there, it is something that should have been planned, that two television channels who pay a lot of money for football, have conflicted interests in promoting games. That inside the country shouldn't happen."

Wenger also attacked the original decision by the Premier League to schedule such a big match on the day that had already been earmarked for FA Cup semi-final action early last summer.

"You would like it to be the unique competition that is played," said Wenger.

"Especially a semi-final and a final. You would want it not to conflict with other competitions. It is a surprise to me.”

"The scheduling was agreed after conversations with the FA and Police," a BBC spokesman told the Telegraph.

"We hope our audience will enjoy the underdogs Reading against the holders Arsenal live on BBC One followed by extended highlights of Chelsea v Man Utd on MotD on Saturday evening."

The weekend of the FA Cup semi-finals used to be one of the most exciting on the sporting calendar, often surpassing the final itself for drama; while Chelsea v United is a mouthwatering clash of the best two teams in the country, based on form over the past four or five months.

And the millions of fans who'd love to watch both? They've been thrown to the dogs by ruthless TV executives and football administrators - for there is fault on all sides in this situation. And the worst bit? Those people who have made the decision couldn't care less about the game itself, or the fans - all they're bothered about is giving each other bloody noses when the next set of viewing figures is released.