Saturday's fixture between Tottenham and Everton has been postponed, but the remaining nine Premier League games will go ahead as planned.

The decision to cancel the game at White Hart Lane was taken in the wake of the civil unrest that has spread across England this week, with Tottenham one of the areas worst hit as trouble erupted over the weekend in London.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said that it was impossible to obtain a safety certificate for the game because police were unable to hand Tottenham High Street back to the council until Friday night.

He said: "The very latest situation is that Tottenham and Everton has gone. The police have done a fantastic job, but it's been a crime scene all week and the council have not had enough time to do what they need."

A Tottenham statement read: "Following ongoing discussions with the necessary authorities ... it has now been confirmed that this fixture will be postponed due to safety concerns relating to infrastructure of the High Road and access to the stadium caused by last Saturday's riots."

The other nine games scheduled for the opening round of fixtures will go ahead as planned, the Premier League has confirmed.

A statement read: "Following on-going discussions with the Metropolitan Police, statutory authorities and clubs in London, the Premier League can confirm that, aside from the postponed Tottenham Hotspur v Everton match, all League games in the capital will go ahead as scheduled this weekend.

"The Premier League has worked closely with the authorities and London-based clubs throughout the recent civil unrest to ensure matches are staged in accordance with supporter safety.

"While all efforts were made to try and facilitate the Tottenham Hotspur v Everton match by the Metropolitan Police and the local authority, the situation on the Tottenham High Road proved too difficult to overcome.

"The Premier League would like to thank the Metropolitan Police and all the other relevant police forces for their efforts and on-going communication during this difficult time.

"Acting on current information from the authorities there is no reason to believe that matches outside of London will be affected at this time."

However, Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament the other London matches - QPR v Bolton Wanderers and Fulham v Aston Villa - could be given early kick-off times.

"As I understand it, subsequent to that, it's been decided that the Tottenham game against Everton should be postponed but as I understand it the intention is that other games in London, the start of the Premier League season, should go ahead but perhaps starting earlier in the day.

"I think that sounds like a very sensible agreement if that indeed is what has been agreed between the Premier League and the police."

While there was disappointment the Spurs match had suffered a similar fate to the England international friendly against Netherlands which had been scheduled to take place at Wembley on Wednesday, there was widespread backing of the decision.

"Sometimes there is no choice in these situations ... sometimes bigger issues prevail," Football Association chairman David Bernstein told Sky Sports News.

"We totally support the decision the (the police) have to make."

He added the sport had a big part to play in reaching out to society after Britain experienced its worst violence in decades less than a year before London hosts the 2012 Olympic Games.

"Football does have a major role to play, it's an industry with great influence, the players and the managers are major role models in society," he said.

His view was shared by Chelsea captain John Terry, who like Bernstein and Scudamore had been attending the launch of the new Premier League season at an event in London.

"All players here today and across the Premier League have called for calm on the streets of London and we hope that we get that," he said.

A surge in police numbers helped calm streets on Wednesday night after four nights of disorder. More than 1,000 people have been arrested.

League Cup matches had already been called off this week but Tottenham's was the first Premier League fixture affected.

Scudamore said the league hoped to rearrange the game for as soon as possible and put the inconvenience into perspective.

"It all pales into insignificance when you think of the issues people have had to face in their daily jobs and their daily lives," he said.

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill supported the decision, writing on Twitter: "It's more important that the people are safe as much as we all love footy."

Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said of the news: "The most important thing is the safety, the police wouldn't have called it off too lightly."

Reuters / Eurosport