England friendly against Holland called off

England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley has been called off following a third night of rioting in London.

About 70,000 tickets had been sold for the fixture, which was due to take place on Wednesday, the Football Association (FA) said.

In a brief statement, the FA said: “It is with regret that tomorrow’s international fixture with Holland at Wembley has been called off.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said fans would have needed to travel through the capital, something police were keen to avoid.

“We do not need the additional burden of a crowd of 80,000 people on our streets tomorrow night. Every officer on duty must be deployed to protect life, our communities and properties,” the spokesman added.

The international is the latest in a string of sports fixtures to be cancelled following disorder across the capital and in other UK cities.

West Ham, Charlton and Crystal Palace have postponed their Tuesday night Carling Cup clashes.

The Hammers were set to host Aldershot at Upton Park, Reading were scheduled to travel to Charlton and Palace faced Crawley Town, but all three games were cancelled at the request of police.

Bristol City’s Carling Cup tie with Swindon at Ashton Gate has also been postponed following trouble in the city on Monday night.

City chairman Colin Sexstone told the club’s official website: “It’s disappointing but we totally understand the reasons given by the police. Clearly the most important factor is people’s safety and these are exceptional circumstances the police are dealing with.”

Olympic events unaffected

The organiser’s of the London 2012 Olympics are insisting that the violence will not affect preparations for the Games.

A beach volleyball test event began on Horse Guards Parade in central London on Tuesday morning as planned and is set to continue until Sunday.

The World Badminton Championships, also an Olympic test event held at Wembley Arena, started on Monday and has so far been unaffected.

On Saturday, open water swimming will take place in the Serpentine in Hyde Park and on Sunday, the road cycling event starts and finishes on the Mall, also in central London.

The British Olympic Associations’s director of communications Darryl Seibel said: “It makes an Olympic Games and a Paralympic Games all the more important. We need a reason to come together.

“What better city to do it in than London. It is the only city to be honoured with the Olympic Games on three occasions.”

He also said he was confident that the authorities would make sure next summer’s Olympics are safe, saying: “We know the level of work and we know the level of planning that has gone into it.”

Mr Seibel added: “This is a reflection of the world we live in today. This is not a reflection of London.”

A West Midlands police spokesman said there was no indication that Wednesday’s third Test between England and India at Edgbaston will be affected, despite unrest overnight in Birmingham.

On Tuesday night, England batsman Kevin Pietersen reported that the doors of the England team’s hotel in the city had been locked, as disorder continued.