All soccer fixtures in England postponed to mourn Queen

All soccer fixtures in England between Sept. 9-11 were postponed by the country’s Football Association (FA) on Friday as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth but rugby matches scheduled for the weekend will go ahead as planned.

Soccer’s top flight Premier League and the English Football League (EFL) had already announced they were postponing their next round of fixtures.

The queen, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died peacefully at her home in Scotland on Thursday aged 96.

“As a mark of respect, following the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, English football has united to postpone all football fixtures between 9-11 September,” the FA said in a statement.

“The FA can confirm that all football fixtures across the Barclays Women’s Super League, Barclays Women’s Championship, the Vitality Women’s FA Cup, and the Isuzu FA Trophy, will be postponed this weekend.”

Matches across the lower tiers of the football pyramid and grassroots football were also postponed, the FA added.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had earlier provided guidance saying there was “no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures, or close entertainment venues during the National Mourning period”.

The Premier League said a decision on postponing the fixtures was made in a meeting on Friday.

“To honour her extraordinary life and contribution to the nation, and as a mark of respect, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed, including Monday evening’s game,” it said.

The EFL said all its fixtures from Sept. 9-10 will be postponed.

“This is aligned with the approach that the Premier League and the FA will take with their competitions this weekend,” the EFL said.