Picture Credit: Twitter
Rangers fans paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II before their Champions League match against Napoli. The Scottish fans sang the national anthem, despite UEFA’s directives. UEFA had previously rejected requests from Chelsea, Manchester City and Rangers to play the national anthem before Wednesday's Champions League matches.
But the home fans sang the anthem before their Group A tie against at Ibrox. The three British clubs had made requests to play ‘God Save the King’ after a period of silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. The UEFA had commented about not playing any anthem, including playing the Champions League anthem.
As per Sky Sports News, the UEFA said, "There will be no anthems played - this also includes the UEFA Champions League anthem - on the basis of maintaining a consistent pre-match ceremony with a subdued atmosphere and without any celebratory activities across all UK venues to show respect as we did last Thursday."
The game also saw only Rangers supporters in attendance against Napoli which was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday because of the policing resources. Similarly, with no away fans permitted at the match, the reverse fixture in Naples will also be played without away fans for sporting integrity. UEFA had allowed a period of silence and black armbands to be worn at all matches featuring UK-based teams.
But Rangers had indicated earlier through their official Twitter account that they would go ahead with the national anthem. Their tweet read, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was honoured at Ibrox this evening with a minute’s silence, a display created by the Union Bears, and a rendition of the National Anthem.”
Around 50,000 fans came to sing the national anthem after the minute's silence. The stadium also had a union flag displayed at the Broomloan Road stand along with a banner which read '1926 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2022.’