Will Football Matches Be Cancelled After The Death Of Queen Elizabeth II?
- Written by David Bet
Premier League fixtures and EFL Football this weekend - as well as many other sporting events - are officially cancelled, as the UK and Commonwealth enters an extended period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Find here the latest news about Premier League, EFL Football and all the other sports.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96 with the United Kingdom now entering a period of mourning with sport likely to be postponed in the UK.
UK Government has stated that the decision as to whether sporting fixtures continue to go ahead is at the discretion of organisers. Organisers may wish to consider using black armbands and observing a silence before matches are played.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the English football leagues will now be discussing the plan moving forward on postponing fixtures.
Reports claimed that all sport is set to be cancelled from Friday, and an official decision from the footballing bodies has arrived few minutes ago.
Will Premier League be postponed?
The Premier League held an emergency meeting with the EFL on Friday morning to decide whether to postpone the weekend’s fixtures.
OFFICIAL: The Premier League and EFL have postponed their fixtures this weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, as a show of respect to the monarch after her 70-year reign, as the UK enters a period of national mourning.
What about Thursday's Europa League and Conference League?
Thursday's Europa League and Conference League fixtures for Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester United all went ahead.
What will happen to next week's European fixtures?
At time of writing it's unclear what will happen to next week's European fixtures involving British clubs.
Anyway, UEFA has published a media schedule for next week’s fixtures in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League showing that there are no plans of postponing those matches.
Will EFL Football be postponed this weekend?
The EFL said that it will discuss fixture postponements with the Government and various sporting bodies.
Meanwhile, the EFL has confirmed that its fixtures scheduled for Friday evening – Burnley v Norwich in the Championship and Tranmere Rovers v Stockport County in League Two - have been postponed.
What about other football leagues?
The Scottish Professional Football League announced that Friday evening’s Championship clash between Dundee and Cove Rangers was off.
On Friday morning the Scottish FA has followed suit in postponing all the weekend’s fixtures.
Will horse racing be suspended?
Racing at Southwell and Chelmsford on Thursday evening was abandoned.
Queen Elizabeth II had a close affinity with horse racing and held a well-known love for the sport but following her death there are doubts about whether the St Leger Festival at Doncaster will resume on Saturday after all of Friday’s race meetings across the UK have been cancelled.
The British Horseracing Authority have announced that meetings scheduled for Saturday have also been cancelled but will resume on Sunday 11th.
What about other sports?
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that the day two of the third Test between England and South Africa at the Oval will be suspended.
In women’s boxing, Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall’s middleweight world title fight has been postponed. They were set to headline a fight card at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night (10th September), in one of the biggest women’s boxing matches of all time, but the event’s promoter, Boxxer, said on Friday that it would look to reschedule the card for Saturday 15th October.
As to golf, the DP World Tour announced that the BMW PGA Championship has been suspended for the remainder of Thursday. Tournament organisers later announced that no play would take place on Friday, with the golf and practice facilities remaining closed.
Rugby games will be likely postponed, too, with Rugby England being the body behind it. A huge round of Gallagher Premiership coming this weekend will be set at a later date.
Cycling’s Tour of Britain has been suspended but the F1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza will go ahead with a minute’s silence in honour of the Queen.
