England called off today’s soccer friendly against the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium amid the wave of rioting and looting across London.
The Football Association made the decision yesterday morning after talks with the British government and the Metropolitan Police, who struggled to contain a third night of unrest in the British capital.
“It is with regret that tomorrow’s international fixture with Holland at Wembley has been called off,” the Football Association said in a brief statement.
About 70,000 tickets had already been sold for the match in north London, which was abandoned before the Dutch team flew to England yesterday morning.
“The disturbances in London are such that all available police capacity is being reserved for that,” the Dutch soccer association said in a statement. “Given that a large event such as an international match at Wembley requires policing, it has been decided not to let it be played.”
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night.
In the Peckham district of south London where England defender Rio Ferdinand grew up, a building was set ablaze along with a bus — which was not carrying passengers.
Ferdinand, who watched the violence unfold on television at the England team hotel, said on Twitter that it was a “good call” to cancel the match.
“Who wants to see a game of football when our country is in turmoil,” Ferdinand wrote.
England teammate Wayne Rooney appealed for an end to the violence.
“These riots are nuts why would people do this to there [sic] own country. Own city,” the striker wrote on Twitter. “This is embarrassing for our country. Stop please.”
Four League Cup matches scheduled for yesterday were also called off. West Ham, which was due to host Aldershot, said police told the east London club that “all major public events in London were to be rearranged.”
The clashes with police also spread beyond London for the first time on Monday night, leading to Bristol City’s League Cup match against Swindon being called off.
Violence first broke out late on Saturday in the low-income district of Tottenham in north London, where outraged protesters demonstrated against the fatal police shooting of man who was gunned down in disputed circumstances on Thursday.
Tottenham’s soccer club is now working to make sure that its Premier League opener against Everton on Saturday can go still go ahead despite damage to a ticket office at White Hart Lane.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had confidence in the British authorities as organizers in London, which is to host next year’s Games, sought to maintain a business-as-usual attitude yesterday, going ahead with a series of competitions to prepare for the Games.
A women’s beach volleyball tournament began as scheduled at Horse Guards Parade.
The competition is a test event for the Olympic tournament that will be played next year.
Other scheduled test events this week include a cycling road race that will go through the streets of London on Sunday and a marathon swimming competition at Hyde Park on Saturday.
“Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “It is, however, directly handled by the local authorities, as they know best what is appropriate and proportionate. We are confident they will do a good job in this domain.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was