The Premier League and EFL have announced all games across English football’s top-four tiers will be postponed this weekend as changes are made to scheduled sport following the death of Queen Elizabeth II…
Football
Confirmation came through on Friday morning that the entire weekend’s Premier League and EFL schedule was to be postponed after the Queen’s death on Thursday. The start of the new WSL season has also been postponed, along with all non-League and grassroots fixtures, the FA has confirmed.
The Scottish FA, SPFL, SWPL and Highland & Lowland Leagues have agreed that all professional football matches will be postponed this weekend as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II. The Irish FA, too, announced that all football in Northern Ireland scheduled for this weekend will not take place.
Midweek football goes ahead
UEFA decided Thursday evening fixtures involving Manchester United and West Ham United would go ahead. There was a minute’s silence at both Old Trafford and the London Stadium before the kick-offs, with players and staff wearing black armbands.
However, none of the English sides held press conferences after their matches.
Manchester United have since confirmed their Europa League game against FC Sheriff will take place as scheduled on Thursday September 15 in Moldova.
According to Sky Sports News , newsstarlet understands discussions have been ongoing between UEFA and all the British teams in Champions League, Europa League and Conference League competitions on Friday and all matches are expected to go ahead.
Cricket
Cricket will resume on Saturday, following the cancellation of Friday’s cricket fixtures as a mark of respect on Thursday’s announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed that play will resume from Saturday including international, domestic and recreational fixtures. This means the men’s Test match between England and South Africa at The Oval is “going ahead as scheduled”.
Saturday’s play will officially be Day Three of the Test match, as after the ECB explored with South Africa whether the game could be extended to Tuesday, travel arrangements meant this ultimately was not an option.
“We have been in discussions with Cricket South Africa but they have to fly home on Tuesday to spend a precious few days at home before heading to India and Australia. Tomorrow (Saturday) is therefore confirmed as Day 3 of a 5-day Test Match,” the ECB confirmed.
The Women’s T20 international match between England and India will also go ahead at the Riverside in Durham, as will the scheduled match between England and Sri Lanka men’s U19s. All recreational cricket fixtures will also take place as planned.
Before each match, a minute’s silence will be observed followed by the national anthem. All players and coaches will wear black armbands. Branded inventory will be replaced with messaging paying cricket’s respects to The Queen.
Boxing
As a mark of respect following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the British Boxing Board of Control has made the decision to postpone all British boxing this weekend, including Saturday’s event, BOXXER: Legacy – Claressa Shields versus Savannah Marshall.
In a statement, the BBBofC said: “Our sincere thoughts are with His Majesty King Charles III and the Royal Family during this profoundly sombre time.
“We are working with all parties to provisionally reschedule for Saturday, October 15 at The O2 in London.”
Golf
The DP World Tour has confirmed the BMW PGA Championship will restart on Saturday morning.
This follows the immediate suspension of play on Thursday evening and the complete cancellation of all day’s play on Friday.
The second round of the championship will resume at 6.40am on Saturday morning and all original second-round tee times will remain the same. Those players who are yet to complete their first round will do so from 7.30am onwards from the place on the golf course where they stopped on Thursday afternoon. The event will now be contested over 54 holes, with the intention to finish on Sunday as scheduled.
Across the weekend at Wentworth, black ribbons will be made available for people to wear and flags will continue to fly at half-mast. There will also be a two-minute silence at 9.50am on Saturday morning across the venue to commemorate the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the proclamation of King Charles III being shown on the television screens in the Championship Village from 10am.
Horse racing
All racing is suspended for Friday and Saturday, with scheduled fixtures and racing events returning on Sunday.
An additional day of racing at Doncaster will also be scheduled for Sunday, to ensure that the St Leger and other important races lost as a result of the postponements can take place.
However, the fixture scheduled for Scotland’s Musselburgh racecourse on Sunday will be cancelled as a mark of respect for the fact that the Queen’s body will be lying in rest in Edinburgh.
The British Horseracing Authority described Queen Elizabeth II as “one of the greatest and most influential supporters in the history of horseracing”.
Rugby Union
Following consultation with the RFU, DCMS and the PRL Board, Premiership Rugby has confirmed that the two matches scheduled for Friday will be postponed. Bristol Bears vs Bath Rugby will instead take place at 5.30pm on Saturday and Sale Sharks vs Northampton Saints has been changed to 3pm on Sunday.
The other matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday will go ahead as scheduled, with Premiership clubs joining with supporters in recognising the Queen’s life and service. Prior to the start of each match, a one-minute silent tribute will take place and all players and coaches will be invited to wear black armbands.
The Welsh Rugby Union has suspended all senior rugby matches in Wales this weekend as a mark of respect.
The Scottish Rugby Union too announced the suspension of all competitive domestic matches under its jurisdiction for this weekend.
Rugby League
Saturday’s Super League Eliminator between Huddersfield Giants and Salford Red Devils will be played as scheduled at 1pm.
Super League had already announced that Friday’s first Elimination Play-Off in Perpignan would go ahead as planned, with a minute’s silence before kick-off, and the players of Catalans Dragons and Leeds Rhinos wearing black armbands.
Super League said in a statement it will “pay its respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II throughout the period of national mourning”. The Queen was rugby league’s patron until 2016.
The Championship fixture between Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams on Friday has been postponed.
Tennis
The US Open tennis tournament paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II with a moment of silence and a photo montage ahead of the first women’s semi-final on Thursday evening.
The LTA has confirmed that the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage hosted in Glasgow will go ahead on September 13-18.
There will be a minute’s silence at the start of each day’s play, the playing of the national anthem, and the Great Britain team will wear black armbands or ribbons ahead of matches against USA, Kazakhstan and Netherlands.
F1
The Italian Grand Prix is set to go ahead this weekend. Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “Formula 1 sends its deepest condolences to the Royal Family and to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”
Cycling
The remainder of this week’s Tour of Britain has been cancelled, with Friday’s stage six in Gloucestershire, Saturday’s stage seven in Dorset and Sunday’s stage nine on the Isle of Wight no longer taking place.
Athletics
The Great North Run will go ahead as planned on Sunday, it has been confirmed. The event, which is estimated to raise £25million in charitable donations, will serve as “a fitting tribute to the Queen”, a statement released by the Great Run Company read.
The Great North 5K and the UK Athletics 5K Road Championships, both scheduled to take place on Friday, were both cancelled, while the Junior and Mini Great North Run have also been postponed.
