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During the Middle Ages, flagellants would remove their white robes emblazoned with a red cross, kneel on the ground, and then whip themselves vigorously in public displays of fervor. Some sports seem to have taken notice. Since the Queen’s death, we’ve seen the FA stop grassroots football, the Premier League ask for 70-minute applause to celebrate the length of Elizabeth II’s reign, and British cycling strangely tell people not to ride during the state funeral, before making a fast. U-turn. Here are some of the biggest beasts in British sport. And they saw fries.

Frit because such decisions are not based on logic, public sentiment, or the advice of the government – which underlines that there was no obligation to cancel or postpone events during the period of national mourning – but a vague sense and poorly defined to want to do “the right thing”.

But no one was telling the sport to stop. In fact, when I spoke to senior officials on the night of the Queen’s death, their expectation was that most of them, including the Premier League, would continue. Twelve hours later, the fear of making a mistake had persuaded football, boxing and cycling to take a back seat.

For what? In part it is due to a shyness and deference towards the royal family, not only in sports, but in the whole society, which seem timeless. Perhaps the best explanation for what we have seen in the last 11 days was given by a senior executive of BBC News, more than 25 years ago, when the Guardian asked about the plans for the death of the Queen Mother. “The view is that the people you upset for not getting over their death will be upset longer – and with more consequences – than the people you upset for getting over their death,” he replied.

This, however, has been the plan for every major royal funeral since.

In one breath, cover the ass. With the next one, bow your head. The silent majority be damned.

But there was certainly a silent majority for a modest and insignificant response – a minute of silence, with a few well-chosen words in tribute – before closing. The day after the Queen’s death, when I asked on Twitter if the sport should continue, more than 90% of respondents said yes. While such polls aren’t always indicative of public mood — a sports writer tends to have a lot of followers who like sports, after all — the general attitude on social media was that sports should go on.

Instead, football was the first to close its doors, although its decision meant that children starved of activity during the pandemic could not play, and those who depended on matchday rituals they also found themselves out of work in a short time.

A father told me that he went for a kickabout with his son and daughter, only to find that all the goalposts were locked together so that they could not be used. When two teams in the Sheffield & District Fair Play League published pictures of a friendly played on the same day, they were accused of “disrespectful and disrespectful behavior” by their president of the league for ignoring the ban of the base. However, at the same time, matches at local cricket, hockey and rugby clubs continued.

The defense of football, at least officially, was that other sports had paused events on Friday to allow mourning, while he had not had such an opportunity. But three sources at a meeting of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport insisted that Prince William’s role as chairman of the FA was also created as a factor. Another consideration, less publicly expressed, was the potential backlash from the right-wing media if football got it wrong.

But football should possess more than a backbone. There will always be idiots following the game, because there will always be idiots in society. In a hundred years, some Celtic fans may still raise banners critical of the royal family. A handful of Liverpool fans may even drown out the national anthem. And the next day, some publications foam and splutter. So it goes.

What made football’s decision seem strange, as writer Patrick Kidd said, was that in 1952 it was the only sport not canceled on the death of George VI, with matches that they continue, preface from the hymn and Abide With Me. It was, the FA said, “a simple and sincere tribute”.

Of course, there will always be different interpretations of how a nation should stop. Yet, in these eyes, the England and Wales Cricket Board, European Tour golf and both rugby codes got it right by gathering crowds on that first weekend without postponing their matches.

As the Rugby Football Union explained in a statement, which also stressed that the majority of supporters wanted to play: “Rugby, at its heart, is about community and bringing people together, in good times and in sad … With families and friends. congregations, will help us unite in this time of national mourning.” They, and others, have been proven right.

We can only hope that the less brave take notes. The smarter ones should already be writing a version of that RFU statement for when King Charles III dies, as well as a sensible plan for how they will react. Heeding that tired old cliché, keep calm and carry on, it’s probably not a bad place to start.

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