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Commentary: Postponed football games are a missed opportunity to honour Queen Elizabeth II and Lim Kia Tong

SEOUL: Queen Elizabeth II died on Sep 8, ending her 70-year reign as the monarch of the United Kingdom. Just this Wednesday (Sep 14), the Football Association of Singapore announced the death of its president, 70-year-old Mr Lim Kia Tong. 

They clearly had different impact in sport and in people’s lives. But in a similar fashion in Singapore and the UK, football games were postponed. It seems, in football at least, not playing is one way of marking respect.

The England Football Association (FA) - to which the queen was patron - met with government authorities in London to confirm that there was "no obligation" to cancel or postpone sporting fixture and left the decision to the "discretion of individual organisations".

Many in the UK probably expected matches to continue as scheduled, just like they did the last time a ruling monarch, Queen Elizabeth II’s father, died in 1952.

Yet, it was soon announced that all games from the biggest in the English Premier League (EPL) right down to the grassroots level and children’s football would not take place that weekend. Soon after, cricket, rugby and horse racing decided to maintain their events, leaving football as the outlier.

Was cancelling football matches the right move? There has been some debate in England on this, and it remains unclear as to why the decision was taken so quickly. 

On a practical level, postponing games just a day before they are due to take place means inconveniencing fans and hurting their pockets, especially for away matches. This would not be as big a factor in Singapore, but can still cause inconvenience to some.

“There’s a big question there about refunds, advance train tickets that have been booked for away games and all of that,” said Michael Clarke,

Read more on channelnewsasia.com