RANGERS have been backed to defy Uefa’s insistence that they cannot play the British national anthem before kick-off against Napoli tonight to mark the death of The Queen.
Her Majesty passed away peacefully at Balmoral last Thursday, aged 96.
Since then the sporting world has joined in with tributes to the UK’s longest-reigning monarch.
Ahead of the return of domestic football this weekend, where teams have been invited to wear black armbands, observe a period of silence and/or play God Save The King before kick-off, Rangers made a request to Uefa to do similar tonight in their Champions League match against Napoli.
Chelsea are also understood to have made such a request to the governing body, only for both clubs to see it turned down and be warned they could face a fine if they proceed regardless.
For radio pundit Simon Jordan, Uefa should have no say in how British clubs choose to pay their respects to The Queen.
He told talkSPORT: “I’m not sure they should be telling us how we should be generating an atmosphere that’s subdued or not.
“My first reaction was ‘where do the footballing authorities get off telling people how they should operate?’ When FIFA comes into town, they’ve got FIFA laws when there’s a World Cup and it felt like that.
“I think the clubs should do precisely what they want. It’s their football stadium. Nothing’s stopping the UEFA branding and the endorsements around the world for the advertisers. Nothing’s stopping the notion of the Champions League music.
“But I think if the British clubs want to play the nation anthem they should do precisely as they wish and it’s that’s (a fine) the consequences of it, that’s the consequences of it.”
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Reports emerged last night that Rangers do indeed plan to go against Uefa’s word and sing the national anthem before the match gets underway at Ibrox.
A minute of silence will be observed beforehand.
Uefa have confirmed they have received multiple requests over the issue but insisted they must remain consistent across all UK venues.
They had previously stated that no music would be played before any matches involving British teams – including the own famous Champions League them tune itself.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
