From soccer stadiums to cricket grounds, sports activities venues in England fell silent for 2 minutes, black armbands had been placed on, and flags lowered to half-staff because the demise of Prince Philip was marked on Friday.
The Royal household and authorities informed sports activities authorities that occasions might proceed following the demise of the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
But the BBC took the choice to take away an England girls’s soccer recreation towards France from certainly one of its tv channels. The match was changed by graphics telling viewers that programming on BBC 4 had been suspended and to swap to different channels displaying information whereas the worldwide fixture can be out there on solely interactive and on-line companies.
Friday’s solely Premier League recreation —- Fulham towards Wolverhampton in London —- was nonetheless televised on a BT Sport subscription channel. The Premier League initially introduced plans to maintain a minute’s silence however an extra minute was later added to the silence based mostly on authorities recommendation for all weekend fixtures.
Philip held positions in sports activities our bodies all through his life, together with as president of the English Football Association and a 22-year spell as president of the International Equestrian Federation that he used to develop new competitions.
“British sport has lost one of its strongest and, on occasion, boldest advocate,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe mentioned. “He had an unflinching view of the role of sport in all our neighbourhoods. That belief will be missed.”
Philip was a eager cricketer and he served two spells as president of the Lord’s-based Marylebone Cricket Club, which is considered the guardian of the legal guidelines of the sport. He offered the Lord’s Taverners ECB Trophy to the English cricket champion for 43 years till he retired from royal duties in 2017.
“We owe him a great debt for his support and passion over many decades,” England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Ian Watmore mentioned.
County cricket matches had been underway when his demise was introduced by Buckingham Palace at midday and a two-minute silence was held earlier than the afternoon classes of play in venues with out followers due to the pandemic.
The largely empty Aintree racecourse additionally fell silent earlier than the second day of racing within the Grand National assembly. Philip was an honorary member of the Jockey Club and would attend flagship racing occasions to accompany his horse-owning spouse. At Royal Ascot in 2012, he offered the queen with the trophy after certainly one of her best successes with Estimate successful the Queen’s Vase Stakes.
“That was a special moment, probably for Her Majesty, but also for horse racing as well,” mentioned 20-time champion jockey A.P. McCoy, who additionally remembered spending time with Philip at Windsor Castle. “He was a very interesting man and a really good polo player in his younger days. He was really keen on carriage driving and really good at it as well.”
Jockeys at Aintree wore black armbands as footballers had been requested to do throughout the weekend at England’s skilled leagues, together with the Premier League, and for the England girls’s worldwide recreation towards Canada — the place the queen can be head of state.
The information of Philip’s demise broke as Tottenham supervisor Jose Mourinho was giving a information convention.
“I would like to express my condolences to the Royal family and, to be very honest, say I have the utmost respect for the Royal family,” the Portuguese mentioned. “I believe that it is not just this country that is going to be sharing these feelings because I’m not English, and I know that many like myself, we have the utmost respect.”
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