Worries over fan dissent during tributes to the Queen was part of the reason games were called off

Fears over how fans would react to tributes to the Queen is one reason that the Premier League, Football League and Football Association decided to cancel football this weekend.

It was an extremely unpopular decision by football's governing bodies on Friday to cancel all games on Saturday and Sunday, in the wake of the Queen's death.

Even Piers Morgan seemed to sum up the thoughts of the nation by branding the decision as 'ridiculous,' due to the former Monarch's love of sport.

Morgan also mentioned the scenes at West Ham on Thursday night, ahead of their Europa Conference League match, where fans paid tribute to the Queen by singing the national anthem, as the reason why games should go ahead, so fans could pay tribute.

However, according to the Daily Mail, authorities were actually worried that not all fans would be respectful during minute's silences ahead of games.

Potential global embarrassment, if fans did show dissent during tributes, was reportedly one of the reasons that authorities decided not to go ahead with games.

West Ham paid tribute after the news of the Queen's death was announced just an hour and a half before kick off in their game against FCSB. Image: Alamy

There were also minute's silences at Manchester United and, ahead of the second half, in Arsenal's game, in the Europa League on Thursday.

Arsenal's game was played in Zurich and there were boos at the end of the minute's silence, directed towards those who had not managed to stay silent.

That might have played into the fears of those in charge, but the noise was most likely to have come from the home fans, but actions closer to home may not have helped either.

Irish side Shamrock Rover faced Djurgardens in the Europa Conference on Thursday and fans were criticised for appearing to celebrate the Queen's death.

Whilst football decided that their fans weren't trustworthy, most other sport has been allowed to go ahead this weekend, even if some fixtures were postponed.

Rugby Union delayed the start of the Premiership season from Friday to Saturday, and the third Test between England and South Africa in cricket cancelled day two but returns on Saturday.

Rugby League went ahead with the Super League play off game between Leeds Rhinos and Catalan Giants on Friday night, although it was played in France.

Football however decided it would stifle its fans ability to pay tribute to the Queen, or even if they wanted to show dissent, why stop them?!