Premier League to make call today on cancellations
PREMIER LEAGUE officials were locked in talks with the UK government last night to discuss whether this weekend’s football can go ahead following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Sportsmail understands many top-flight clubs are expecting this weekend’s fixtures to be postponed with an announcement expected early this morning.
Almost all of today’s sporting programme in the UK was called off last night as a mark of respect, including day two of England’s Test match against South Africa, golf’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and all racing, the monarch’s favourite sport. Today’s EFL fixtures — Burnley v Norwich and Tranmere v Stockport — have also been postponed.
The rest of the football pyramid is likely to follow the lead set by the Premier League. A cancellation of the entire programme would create fixture congestion later in the season as there are no free midweeks between now and the mid-winter break for the World Cup, which begins in Qatar just seven days after the Premier League pauses.
The Champions League looks set to continue next week whatever happens this weekend, as Manchester United’s Europa League tie against Real Sociedad went ahead last night following guidance from UEFA.
There was a minute’s silence before kick-off at Old Trafford, with both teams wearing black armbands and the flags at stadium lowered to half-staff as a sign of respect.
There was no pre-match music and the digital advertising hoardings around the field were switched off.
There was a minute’s silence in other European games involving British teams, such as Arsenal, West Ham and Hearts.
There are no fixtures scheduled for the date of the funeral on September 19 as that is the start of the international break.
The English Premiership rugby season is due to begin tonight with games between Bristol and Bath, and Sale and Northampton, with a decision on those fixtures expected this morning. Northampton v Saracens in the Premiership Rugby Cup was postponed last night, an announcement which was followed by the Premiership chief executives holding talks with the RFU over how to proceed.
The rugby league Super League play-off between Catalans Dragons and Leeds Rhinos in Perpignan tonight is set to go ahead.
The second day of England’s final Test match of the summer against South Africa was called off following a first day washout at the Oval, although the ECB did not confirm any plans for the remainder of the game. A four-day Test could begin tomorrow, with a final decision resting on the outcome of further talks with the UK government and a more sober assessment of the evolving public mood.
‘Friday’s play between England and South Africa Men at the Oval, along with all scheduled matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, will not take place,’ the ECB said in a statement.
All of today’s racing, including day three of the Doncaster St Leger meeting, was cancelled.
Last night’s meetings at Chelmsford and Southwell were also abandoned.
A decision on whether racing will resume tomorrow when the feature race is the St Leger, the final Classic of the Flat season, at Doncaster will be made today, with discussion on the racing programme during the period of national mourning in the UK.
Poignantly, Queen Elizabeth’s colours just missed out on being carried to victory yesterday, when her Michael Bell-trained filly Improvise was beaten a shorthead in the final race at Epsom.