According to the British media "The Times", England's football governing body has decided not to hold silent ceremonies for global events that have nothing to do with football in order to reduce excessive commemoration. The Football As...
According to the British media "The Times", England's football governing body has decided not to hold silent ceremonies for global events that have nothing to do with football in order to reduce excessive commemoration.
The Football Association, the Premier League and the English Football League established the "World Events Working Group" (WEWG) to guide English football's response to major world events. Unless the incident is directly related to football, the league will not hold a moment of silence or light up the Wembley Arch.
Clubs can now choose when to respond to local incidents that are not related to football. For example, Bolton Wanderers, Salford City and two Manchester clubs held moments of silence following last month's knife attack at a Manchester synagogue, but the action was not repeated across English football, despite calls from campaigners for a unified response.
When a serious football-related incident occurs, the entire football community can commemorate it, as was the case after Liverpool player Diogo Jota died in a car accident.
WEWG also provides guidance on the issue of fans displaying flags or banners at stadiums. Many fans displayed Ukrainian flags following the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, but due to tensions caused by the Israel-Gaza war, the club has now taken the position of banning the display of the flags of the countries in the conflict.
These agreements do not cover player-led initiatives such as kneeling in anti-racism movements. Likewise, this weekend's Remembrance Day events will see many clubs wearing poppies on their shirts to commemorate former players who lost their lives in both world wars.
Previously, English football authorities were criticized for not lighting up the Wembley Stadium arch after Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,139 people. Last month, every Premier League stadium held a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake in Morocco and the floods in Libya, and there were concerns that the ceremonies had become too frequent and lost their meaning.
Following events in the Gaza Strip, where 61,000 people (including 17,000 children) have died according to the British Red Cross, convinced English football leaders that not holding events around the October 7 attacks was the right thing to do and that the entire response to global events needed to be re-examined.
WEWG will also guide the football community's response should a serious non-football related incident occur in the UK. The government will provide guidance for events such as the death of the monarch, such as the cancellation of competitions following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
The Football Association has decided that the arch at Wembley Stadium will only be lit up for football or entertainment events, rather than to support social causes or commemorate global events. However, promoters using the stadium will have some control over the arch's lighting. Last year, the arch turned green and white - the colors of the Saudi flag - when the Saudi national anthem was played before a heavyweight boxing match hosted by the Gulf state at the stadium.
