Following discussions between Police in Scotland, the Glasgow club, and UEFA, Rangers’ Champions League group stage matchup at home against Napoli has been moved back 24 hours to Wednesday.
The match at Ibrox Stadium, which was initially planned for Tuesday, has been postponed for Wednesday, September 14, at 8 p.m., according to the organization that oversees European football.
The late monarch’s funeral is scheduled on September 19 in London, and the UK is presently observing a period of national mourning.
Recall that due to the Queen’s demise, there was no Premier League games last weekend, however, some other sports took place.
A statement from UEFA explaining why the UEFA Champions League between Rangers and Napoli was shifted from Tuesday to Wednesday, claimed that the decision had to be taken due to a limited number of police amid the national mourning in the United Kingdom.
“This is owing to the significant limits on police resources and organizational challenges relating to the continuing activities surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the statement read.
In addition, according to UEFA, there won’t be any visiting fans at Ibrox this week, and for the sake of sports justice, Rangers fans won’t be allowed to attend the second leg in Naples on October 26.
Fans have been admonished to respect this exceptional situation and refrain from making trip plans.
Rangers lost 4-0 against Ajax Amsterdam to begin their Champions League Group A campaign, and Napoli crushed Liverpool 4-1 at home.
The UEFA competition matches scheduled for next week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are anticipated to all take place as scheduled.
This weekend’s Premier League and English Football League games were all postponed out of respect. Also postponed were all matches in the Women’s Super League, Women’s Championship, and Women’s FA Cup.
All professional games in Scotland were postponed this past weekend, and no football was played in Wales or Northern Ireland either, based on the directives of the Scottish Football Association.
The English Football League is slated to resume on Tuesday with a full midweek schedule, and the National League announced that games would start on Monday as scheduled.
A national policing operation has been launched, according to a statement from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), and UK Police is collaborating closely with other organizations to ensure that events are held “safely and with the proper security.”
As a result of the Premier League and English Football League’s decisions to postpone this weekend’s games, the NPCC said, “We will work with football clubs to try and ensure that, where possible, football matches can take place safely when balanced against the requirement to support national events and deliver day-to-day policing.
“Since this is a special circumstance, we are collaborating closely with all parties.”
