Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, the country of England is entering a period of mourning. And apparently, that mourning period will not include English Premier League soccer over the weekend.
On Friday morning, the league announced that it is postponing this weekend’s English Premier League match round “as a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
As a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed.
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 9, 2022
“As our longest-serving monarch, she has been an inspiration and leaves behind an incredible legacy following a life of dedication,” Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said in a statement. “This is a tremendously sad time for not just the nation, but also for the millions of people around the world who admired her, and we join together with all those in mourning her passing.”
While the entire Premier League slate is canceled, the DP World Tour announced on Friday that the BMW PGA Championship will resume on Saturday as a 54-hole event.
The decision to suspend all Premier League matches for the weekend was not particularly popular in the soccer world. Many took to Twitter to express their displeasure and point out that a mass cancelation like this affects the working class the most.
Simply put, this is nuts.
The courts remain open, supermarkets continue to trade and thousands trundled into office blocks this morning.
However, no football at the weekend.
Once again, sport – often a safe haven to those struggling – is sacrificed for no real or valid reason. https://t.co/TfdL0tZX6s
— Marc Williams (@ichbinmarc_) September 9, 2022
Kinda crazy that they’re straight up canceling. I understand it’s a massive event but isn’t this gonna affect working class folks the deepest? Regular folks who are already paying taxes for the funeral now are out travel expenses, et al? https://t.co/6ERmKe4KQR
— Aaron West (@oeste) September 9, 2022
Absurd. Mind-boggling. A demonstrably bad decision and big middle finger to everyday people.
Where’s the thought process behind this? What about businesses who survive on matchday revenue? What about freelancers, match-going fans? https://t.co/0BSN1xxeZL
— Amos Murphy (@AmosMurphy_) September 9, 2022
I'm sorry but that is a ridiculous decision. https://t.co/THxWGZ6WLS
— Al Foran (@ImpressionistAL) September 9, 2022
Idiotic decision. https://t.co/RGVvyy4bK2
— Rory Jennings 🍊🦩 (@Chelsearory) September 9, 2022
This is the wrong decision imo. People's lives have been put on hold enough over the last few years, and live sport is a tonic for many. As others have pointed out, the Queen loved sport herself. Haven't spoken to any fan who supported a postponement https://t.co/jvXFyPSoEg
— Liam Corless (@liamcorless) September 9, 2022
Surely images from grounds up and down the country paying their respects would've been a powerful sight to go literally around the world. Now we have nothing. https://t.co/qaus531dqu
— Elliot Hackney (@ElliotHackney) September 9, 2022
Canceling sport to pay respect to a sport-loving monarch feels strange. Communal gatherings – stadiums full of fans honoring her memory, as they did so movingly at West Ham last night – seems a better way of dealing with collective grief. https://t.co/smEEOwvwX8
— Nick Bryant (@NickBryantNY) September 9, 2022
While the league did not immediately outline when matches will resume, the statement said that updates will be provided “in due course.”
