Conflicting London teams Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur could be forced to groundshare Wembley Stadium or another ground in 2017.
Spurs are are reviewing potential stadiums that they could use for the 2017-18 Premier League campaign, whilst their new 61,000 seater stadium is under construction.
After reviewing the location of supporters groups, Tottenham have targeted Wembley Stadium and Stadium:mk of the Milton Keynes Dons as appropriate places to play their football.
However, the North London club have been told by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore that splitting their home games between two grounds is unacceptable.
When speaking at the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore, Scudamore said: “They’d have to play in the same stadium for the entire year. For the integrity of the competition.”
He also added: “You can’t have 19 homes games with 10 at Milton Keynes and nine at Wembley. Completely, completely unfair. That won’t be allowed in our competition.”
This means that Wembley could be the only realistic option for a temporary stadium for Daniel Levy’s club, but they may have to share it with Jose Mourinho’s Blues from West London.
Chelsea are also looking for a temporary home during the 2017/18 season, as they look to redevelop Stamford Bridge.
“They know the rules and what we require. Clubs have to be able to deliver 19 home games in the slot that is required. So if they share with a Rugby League club, we can’t be fettered as to when those clubs can play,” explained Scudamore.
“The positive is that Premier League clubs are paired in the fixture list: Liverpool and Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City etc. so it’s perfectly possible to have two teams playing in one stadium.
And you might argue that in some circumstances it would be desirable, but I do know the reason why it’s difficult.”