London Riots Force Football Freeze as Violence Cancels Matches

The riots that have torn across the city of London over the last several days have forced the cancellation of multiple sporting events in the next few days, including a prominent international friendly clash between England and the Netherlands scheduled to take place on Wednesday. 

Violence has engulfed the English capital overt the last several days, as thousands of young people have been rioting and looting across the city, causing serious damage and forcing Scotland Yard to deploy hundreds of police officers to help quell the riots.

According to a Sports Illustrated report, the match between England and the Netherlands, scheduled for Wednesday night at London's Wembley Stadium, is the latest football match to be cancelled in the area, due to a lack of available officers to work security. 

Per the Football Association:

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"It is with regret that tomorrow's international fixture with Holland at Wembley has been called off,'' the Football Association said in a brief statement.

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The Dutch football association also added their sentiments to the cancellation, telling reporters:

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"We will remain in the Netherlands,'' Dutch football association spokeswoman Monique Kessel said. "It's a shame.''

"The disturbances in London are such that all available police capacity is being reserved for that,'' the Dutch football association added in a statement. "Given that a large event such as an international match at Wembley requires policing, it has been decided not to let it be played.''

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But the international friendly isn't the only match that has been canceled. A quartet of League Cup matches, between West Ham and Aldershot, Charlton and Reading and Crystal Palace and Crawley have all been postponed. The fourth match, between Swindon and Bristol City, marks the first match canceled due to violence outside the London area. 

The riots were started in Tottenham, where thousands of people protested the controversial shooting of a man by police. The protests began peacefully, but descended into nearly three days of rioting, looting and violence. 

This is a truly serious situation for London, and there's no doubt that canceling the matches was the right decision to make. Now is not the time for football matches, as the country tries to quell the burst of violence that is tearing across the city.

Hopefully, a resolution to the conflict can be found soon, and Londoners can return to worrying about whether Arsenal's defense will hold up next season.