Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years
Due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, all senior football in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland has been canceled this weekend.
There were ten Premier League and six Scottish Premiership games planned.
Six Women’s Super League matches, the first of the season, were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in addition to EFL games on Friday and Saturday.
The National League, FA Trophy, and amateur football in England are also off.
On Saturday, the women’s Twenty20 match between England and India will take place in addition to the continuation of play in the cricket Test between England and South Africa.
What’s on and what’s off this weekend, in a look
After play was suspended on Thursday, the PGA Championship in golf will resume on Saturday.
After two rugby union matches on Friday were postponed, British horse racing will resume on Sunday and the Premiership season will start on Saturday.
The bout for the boxing world title between Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields has been postponed, with a tentative date of October 15 established for a rematch.
The weekend’s slate of British Boxing Board of Control competitions has been cancelled.
The Great North Run will go as scheduled on Sunday, according to organizers, who noted that the occasion would be “more muted out of respect” and be “an opportunity to join together and express our sorrow while commemorating the life of our magnificent Queen.”
The Lawn Tennis Association has confirmed that the Davis Cup Finals tennis competition will be held in Glasgow the following week.
The group stage competition is being held at the Emirates Arena from September 13 to September 18 and features Great Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan.
The Wednesday Champions League match between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund at Etihad Stadium will proceed as scheduled.
BBC Sport has been informed that City are able to provide the necessary policing to ensure the game will take place as scheduled, despite the fact that Uefa has not yet announced what will happen with next week’s fixtures involving British sides.
The Europa League match between Manchester United and FC Sheriff will go ahead as planned on Thursday, “after discussions with the relevant governing authorities and in line with guidelines supplied by the UK government,” according to a statement from Manchester United.
The UK’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away on Thursday at the age of 96.
National mourning guidelines issued by the government suggested that individual sports should decide whether or not to call off contests.
The government’s advice for the funeral day recommended that events might be changed so that they would not conflict with the timing of the service but did not mandate cancellation.
- Northern Ireland sporting events postponed
- All Scottish senior football called off
- Welsh football and rugby called off
A minute’s silence was observed before practice at F1’s Italian Grand Prix
Cricket, golf and rugby to play on
On Saturday, cricket will be played in England for international, domestic, and recreational purposes.
The PGA Championship in golf will continue on Saturday at 6:40 BST, and the competition will now last 54 holes rather than 72.
Prior to the start of the second round, players who were still engaged in play on Thursday will finish their first round.
Sale vs. Northampton will be played on Sunday at 15:00 BST, while the rugby union Premiership match between Bristol and Bath has been postponed from Friday evening to 17:30 BST on Saturday.
Senior rugby in Wales has been suspended, but all other Premiership games this weekend will go on as scheduled.
Prior to Friday’s practice for the Italian Grand Prix, Formula 1 observed a moment of silence with all teams, with the race weekend going according to schedule.
Before the first women’s semi-final match on Thursday and the first men’s semi-final on Friday at the tennis US Open in New York, there was a moment of silence.
In rugby league, the Catalans Dragons vs. Leeds Super League play-off is on Friday, and Huddersfield vs. Salford is on Saturday. The Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams Championship match has been postponed.
The British Elite Ice Hockey League announced that the weekend’s games would proceed according to schedule.
Football honors the “indelible legacy” of Queen
The Football Association said that games between September 9 and 11 had been postponed and noted that the Queen, the FA’s “long-standing patron,” “has left a lasting and indelible imprint on our national game.”
All games will be rescheduled, according to confirmation from the Premier League and EFL.
Although policing was not a factor in postponing the Premier League games this weekend, it is known that depending on state funeral preparations, it may be a part in the games next weekend.
There is optimism that fixture congestion may be resolved in the second half of the campaign, and a meeting with the necessary parties will be arranged the following week to review the calendar.
Updates on upcoming games during the period of mourning “will be communicated in due course,” according to the Premier League, which decided to honor the Queen for her “extraordinary life and commitment to the nation.”
Richard Masters, the league’s chief executive, said: “We and our clubs would like to express our gratitude for Her Majesty’s long and steadfast service to our nation.
“This is an incredibly sad time for the country, but also for the millions of people who admired her around the world, and we join them in grieving her passing.”
The Scottish Professional Football League, Scottish Women’s Premier League, Scottish Highland and Lowland Football Leagues, as well as Women’s Scottish Cup games, are among the Scottish events that have been postponed.
The ceremony should be marked “with all conceivable solemnity,” according to SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster. He also noted that there would be another update “when we have clarity about official plans for Her Majesty’s funeral.”
Record-breaking WSL start put on hold
Following England’s summer victory at Euro 2022, clubs were anticipating record ticket sales as the Women’s Super League prepared to begin play this weekend.
Chelsea was planned to host West Ham at Stamford Bridge, while Tottenham was set to host Manchester United in the larger primary stadium used by their male counterparts, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The 7,000-seat Academy Stadium was sold out for the match between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.
While Chelsea, the defending champions, sold out all 1,500 of their season tickets for the second consecutive year, Reading has five times as many season ticket holders as they had last year.
Honored is Queen’s “enduring and distinctive” connection to racing
Except at Musselburgh in Scotland, British racing on Saturday has been postponed and will resume on Sunday.
The St Leger, the oldest Classic race in the world, has been advanced by 24 hours and will take place at Doncaster on a longer nine-race card.
The gathering in Musselburgh has been cancelled because the Queen is lying in state in Edinburgh, but Chepstow is still scheduled to take place on Sunday.
The Queen has “an ongoing and unique” connection to the sport, according to Julie Harrington, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority.
The St Leger, one of Britain’s five Classic races, would be run on Sunday when racing resumes, she said. The Queen won this event in 1977 with her filly Dunfermline.
“This will also provide the sport and its supporters a chance to honor Her Majesty and recognize the contribution she has made to the game,” the statement continued.
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