Is it morally wrong to make a sportsman play a game on the tenth anniversary of 9/11?

Norwich City fans have this week been reminded of one of the irritating aspects of the Premier League as four of their opening dozen games have been moved for television coverage.
While it may no more than a minor inconvenience for most fans, the home game against West Bromwich Albion now kicks off on Sunday, September 11 at 1.30pm.
That match will be played at exactly the same time as the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the USA back in 2001, and for Norwich’s American central defender Zak Whitbread it’s sure to an extremely emotional day, whether he plays or not.
All across the USA there will be memorial services as there are every anniversary, but this one is special – ten years is always a massive yardstick and will be given extra poignancy this year following the death of Osama bin Laden.
For Americans all over the world the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center is etched in their memory, and that time in the UK is 1.46pm, so that means Zak Whitbread will either be entering the 16th minute of the Premier League clash or sitting in the stands watching the game.
Whitbread was just 17 when the attacks happened and has never played a first team game on September 11 since 2001. While it may not seem that bigger deal for us Brits, it’s a bit like being made to play at 11am on Remembrance Sunday – no league games ever take place then.
I think it would be totally understandable if he asked not to play in the WBA game, like most Americans of his age it is the biggest thing to happen in their lives and I believe he should be allowed to not play.
Of course he may not even make the bench, let alone the first team, but I think Sky have presented the club with a bit of a dilemma by moving this fixture.
I’m a huge Norwich fan and will of course be in my Jarrold Stand seat for this match, but I am sure I am not the only Canaries follower who has a mind that expands far further than events at Carrow Road. If Norwich weren’t playing I would be at home watching the memorial service, thinking back to 2001 and paying my own respects and thinking back to how I felt that day.
Ironically I was on a ten-day holiday with my mate Gordon in Italy and we’d planned to watch loads of football and go to the Grand Prix.
After watching AC Milan on Sunday, September 9, we took a train to Genoa which is where I was on the 11th. The following day we travelled to Parma ahead of their UEFA Cup match against HJK Helsinki on the 13th but the game was postponed – for security reasons and as a mark of respect for those who died.