During the middle ages, flagellants would remove their white robes adorned with a red cross, kneel on the ground, and then vigorously whip themselves in public displays of fervour. Some sports appear to have been taking notes. Since the Queen’s death, we have seen the FA stop grassroots football, the Premier League ask for applause at 70 minutes to celebrate the length of Elizabeth II’s reign, and British Cycling bizarrely tell people not to ride during the state funeral, before performing a rapid U-turn. These are some of the biggest beasts in British sport. And they have looked frit.
Frit because such decisions were not based on logic, public sentiment, or government advice – which stressed that there was no obligation to cancel or postpone events during the period of national mourning – but a nebulous and ill-defined sense of wanting to do “the right thing”.
