SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Following yesterday’s passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, sporting organisations across the country continue to pay their respects by postponing their weekend fixtures.
DCMS has advised that it is for individual sporting bodies to decide whether to maintain fixtures as the government will impose no obligation to cancel sport events scheduled to take place this weekend.
The only requirement was for sporting events to ensure that “all official flags, including the Union Flag, should be half-masted from as soon as possible today until 08.00 the day following The Queen’s State Funeral.”
The EFL announced that tonight’s fixtures – Burnley vs Norwich and Tranmere vs Stockport – have been postponed. Various posts can also be seen on social media in honour of the Queen, with images of the monarch visiting the clubs over the years.
In football, further cancellations include the SPFL’s Cove Rangers and Dundee match which was meant to occur tonight, and the Northern Ireland Football League’s Cliftonville vs Glentoran and Larne vs Dungannon.
Moreover, the ECB has made a statement revealing today’s game between England and South Africa in the Test match will not take place, along with all scheduled matches in the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
It added: “For fixtures beyond Friday, updates will be provided in due course.”
Richard Thompson, ECB Chair, said: “I’m sure I speak for everyone in the game when I say how truly sad I am to hear of the Queen’s passing.
“Her Majesty has been such a great supporter of the game and was always so vocal of her and her late husband’s enjoyment around the sport.”
Furthermore, The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced that meetings scheduled for Friday – which includes the third day of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster – have been cancelled.
The organisation described Queen Elizabeth II as ‘one of the greatest and most influential supporters in the history of horseracing’ – arguably her favourite sport.
All greyhound races have been cancelled for today, apart from Cork (Irish racing), but not much information has been reported on this at this moment in time. Fixtures for Saturday are due to be confirmed ‘in due course’.
Additionally, in the world of golf, the European Tour Group suspended play yesterday at the BMW PGA Championship which was then followed by an announcement that there will be no play at Friday’s competition.
Formula One plans to mark the death of the Queen with a minute’s silence at the Italian Grand Prix. “Formula One mourns the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” commented F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali.
“For more than seven decades she dedicated her life to public service with dignity and devotion and inspired so many around the world.” The Italian Grand Prix is still set to go ahead this weekend.
Northampton’s Premiership Rugby Cup match against Saracens was cancelled last night, which was due to be the first game of the season.
Following this, the Scottish Rugby Union delayed all domestic competitive games this weekend as well as the women’s summer Test international between Scotland and Spain.
In rugby league, Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams’s second-tier match has also been postponed. However, the Super League play-off between Leeds and Catalans Dragons is set go ahead as it is taking place in France.
Whether the second elimination play-off between Huddersfield Giants and Salford Red Devils will take place on Saturday is yet to be decided – Betfred Super League revealed in a statement.
Meanwhile, the PDC has released a tribute on its platform. With the new MODUS competition occurring this week, it is unclear whether this will continue to take place.
Other sports including tennis, boxing, athletics and cycling have also paid tribute, with the latter cancelling its last three stages of the Tour of Britain.
