The EFL, Premiership Rugby and British Horseracing have adjusted their schedules on Saturday “as a mark of respect” to avoid clashing with the funeral of Prince Philip.
The Duke of Edinburgh died at the age of 99 on Friday and his funeral will be held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at 15:00 BST on Saturday, 17 April.
A national minute’s silence will be held at 15:00.
The Scottish Grand National at Ayr has been moved from 17 to 18 April.
The British Horseracing Authority has also moved the Spring Trials at Newbury to the Sunday and announced that there will be no racing between 14:45 and 16:15 on Saturday.
Premiership Rugby has changed the kick-off times of all four of its matches on Saturday.
Sale’s match against Gloucester and Exeter’s home game against Wasps will both start at 12:30 while Newcastle v Bristol will kick off at 17:00, along with Harlequins v Worcester.
Ireland are scheduled to face France in the Women’s Six Nations at 14:15, although the match is in doubt because of Covid restrictions.
In the Premier League, there are talks about moving Wolverhampton Wanderers’ home game against Sheffield United at 15:00.
The English Football League, meanwhile, has said it “will now work with its clubs to determine at what time the matches will be played”.
A total of 32 games across the Championship, League One and League Two were scheduled to kick-off at 15:00 next Saturday.
In cricket, the nine County Championship matches scheduled on Saturday will be paused between 14:50 and 16:10.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has also asked all recreational cricket clubs to do the same.
In Scotland, there are six Scottish Cup fourth-round matches scheduled around the time of the funeral, including Rangers against Celtic at 16:00.
The Scottish Football Association says it is has “entered dialogue with the relevant stakeholders” regarding those fixtures.
The FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley is at 17:30.
According to UK government guidance: “The decision as to whether sporting fixtures continue to go ahead is at the discretion of organisers. Organisers may wish to consider using black armbands and observing a silence before matches are played.”
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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