Chelsea fixture pile-up causes headache for FA, Premier League and TV

• Decision likely after Chelsea's home leg to Steaua Bucharest
• London club could be left facing three matches in six days

The Football Association will leave it until after Chelsea's Europa League tie this week before deciding how to solve a scheduling conundrum that could leave the London club facing three matches in six days.

If Chelsea overcome a 1-0 deficit at home to Steaua Bucharest on Thursday, a complex fixture pile-up involving the Premier League, broadcasters, the police and Fifa is likely to cause the FA a major headache as it seeks to schedule an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Manchester United following Sunday's 2-2 draw.

Should Steaua knock out Chelsea, then the FA Cup replay at Stamford Bridge is likely to be scheduled for the first week of April. But if they progress to the quarter-finals, Chelsea would need to play in Europe in each of the two weeks immediately before the confirmed FA Cup semi-final dates of 13 and 14 April.

The FA is determined not to push back the semi-final dates but the scheduled international break complicates matters further.

One option would be to scramble to postpone this weekend's televised Premier League matches at short notice to clear the way for the replay but that is viewed as impractical.

Alternatively, matches on Easter weekend – United visit Sunderland while Chelsea head to Southampton, both for TV fixtures – could be deferred, or those on the following weekend, which would include the Manchester derby.

Such a move may be resisted by broadcasters, who will have a major say in the deliberations, and also risks storing up the problem for later in the season by displacing more fixtures from the schedule.

The most likely scenario is that Chelsea could be forced to play the replay on a Monday or Tuesday before playing a European game on the Thursday. But that may be opposed by Rafael Benítez, their interim manager, and would also require the approval of the Metropolitan police because Fulham have a home match against Queens Park Rangers on Easter Monday, 1 April.

It is understood that discussions with all parties will take place in the next few days and, while unlikely, it remains possible that the Premier League will force a decision before Thursday's European tie.

Michael Carrick, who supplied a sublime pass to Javier Hernández for Manchester United's opening goal before Chelsea rallied in the second half, said they remained confident of remaining on track for a domestic double.

"We have performed well down there in recent years without getting what we deserved," he said. "Last season we were 3-0 down and came back. This season we won. We will be positive. We have every chance. It is a one-off game and anything can happen."

Rio Ferdinand, who said that Carrick was "the most underrated and undervalued" player in the Premier League, struggled to put his finger on the reason why recent encounters between the two sides have been so high-scoring.

"That is not what we want," he said. "It just seems to happen. We will try and put that right in the next game. Stamford Bridge is a tough place to go but we will be very confident of going there and getting a good result," he said. Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago. ~Chelsea Headlines on One News Page [United Kingdom]~
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