Rioting in London has forced the cancellation of Wednesday's friendly between England and the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium. The FA met with police officials early Tuesday morning and decided to call off the match. It joins three Carling Cup matches as having been cancelled because of the rioting in the city.
England Vs. Netherlands Friendly Called Off Due To London Riots
The FA released a statement on Tuesday morning to announce the cancellation: “It is with regret that tomorrow’s [Wednesday 10 August] international fixture with Holland at Wembley has been called-off.”
What started as a peaceful protest on Saturday night over the police shooting of a man turned into rioting in North London. Now it has spread to other areas in the city. Whether because of concerns about spectator safety or the inability to spare policemen for the matches, football has been affected, although football is hardly a priority at the moment.
The England players will train together once more on Tuesday then return to their clubs ahead of the start of the Premier League season on Saturday. As of now, none of the weekend’s Premier League matches have been cancelled with Tottenham releasing a statement on Monday morning confirming that they intend to play on Saturday at White Hart Lane despite rioting being just a half mile from the stadium.
Wednesday's match would have been a key friendly for Fabio Capello's side, the final time to play together before two Euro 2012 qualifiers in the first week of September. England are currently tied with Montenegro atop their qualifying group and if they fall into second place they may have to play a two-legged playoff for a spot in the tournament.
The Netherlands were not due to fly out of Amsterdam until Tuesday morning so they have no issues with return travel. They are three points clear of second place Sweden in their Euro qualifying group with four qualifiers left to play.
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