Premier League Soccer Games Postponed Out of Respect for the Queen

Sports with events scheduled for Friday had already moved unilaterally to cancel them.

Horse racing — the sport closest to the queen’s heart — called off all of its scheduled meetings for Friday. The British Horseracing Authority is expected to make a decision on Friday on when it will resume. On Thursday, it was announced that both the second day’s play in the cricket test match between England and South Africa at the Oval, in London, and golf’s P.G.A. Championship would not take place. The Tour of Britain cycling race was canceled entirely, with three days’ racing remaining.

Soccer games did take place on Thursday, as several clubs played in continental European competitions, with players wearing black armbands and crowds observing a minute’s silence. Two fixtures in the second-tier Championship, scheduled for Friday, were postponed.

For English soccer leaders the decision to cancel the games was in part because of the need to mark the moment at the earliest opportunity. Previous precedents made finding the right answer a difficult task: Although games were canceled after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, games were played when the queen’s father, King George VI, died in 1952.

The leagues also face a decision on how to rearrange games scheduled to be played close to the queen’s state funeral, which is expected to be held either next weekend, or the following Monday, Sept. 19.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/world/europe/sports-soccer-canceled-queen-death.html