Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson blames television for creating ‘ridiculous situations’ with fixtures

Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that broadcasters are creating "ridiculous situations" for the top European sides like Manchester United by causing fixture congestion when clubs have to compete in midweek matches

The Scot also believes that clubs have lost all power when it comes to the fixtures that they play because of the amount of money that broadcasting companies have, and feels that little can be done to reverse the trend.

He told BBC North West Tonight: "When you shake hands with the devil you have to pay the price. Television is God at the moment.

"It shows itself quite clearly because when you see the fixture lists come out now, they can pick and choose whenever they want the top teams on television.

"You get some ridiculous situations when you're playing on Wednesday night in Europe and then at lunchtime the following Saturday.

"You ask any manager if they would pick that themselves and there'd be no chance."

However, Ferguson and clubs in the same position do not always protest too loudly, as the revenue that television matches create often compensates for the inconvenience of fixture congestion.

Manchester United raked in a massive £60.4 million for the right to broadcast a selection of their games live this season, more than covering the price of the new recruits Ferguson brought in during the summer.