Football: Sports Minister attacks evening kick-offs

Sports Minister Richard Caborn has led calls for a review of early-evening kick-offs on high-profile matches following the attack on Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll in Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round clash at Everton. The decision to schedule the game for 5.30pm on a Saturday evening had been questioned before the match and is again likely to come under scrutiny.

Caborn told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We may well have to rethink the 5.30pm kick-off.

"We know it is done predominately for television, but we might have to reflect on that.

"There are now a lot more people returning to football and it is a minority of fans who are bringing the game into disrepute, and we have to deal with that.

"It is a police decision and for clubs to make sure games which are going to be of some tension to maybe be played earlier in the day.

"We have to learn from these things and have to deal with them collectively."

Source: Sportinglife