Chelsea have cancelled Sunday’s planned victory parade, designed to celebrate their Premier League title success, after taking security advice in the wake of the terror attack in Manchester.

The champions will wear black armbands when facing Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, an occasion that will take place amid heightened security with the government having raised the terror threat level to “critical” after the attack at the Manchester Arena. Chelsea had intended to conduct an open-top bus parade in south-west London but, after lengthy consultations with the Metropolitan police, local councils and other authorities, have opted to cancel it.

The club, who are to make a donation to a fund supporting victims of the atrocity, have sent condolences to those affected in Manchester, with those sentiments echoed by their England defender Gary Cahill. “It’s important to show our respect and send our condolences to the families that have been affected in Manchester,” said the Chelsea captain, whose family will be in attendance at Wembley. “We’ve all got families, so I can’t imagine how they’re feeling right now. I have lived close to Manchester, it’s a great city, and I’m sure they’ll pull together.

“With the game, it’s difficult. There’s an element of trying to live your life in a normal way. Everyone speaks about trying to make sure it doesn’t affect you but it’s impacted everyone in England, especially the families. It’s a tragedy, like when we played [for the national team] at Wembley after the bombings in Paris. It’s horrible. We send our best wishes to everyone involved and I’m sure the security will be top drawer at Wembley on Saturday. We’re going to try to enjoy it as much as we can.

“I try not to worry. I’m sure there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes we don’t know about but it’s very difficult to stop absolutely everything. These aren’t normal situations. When you see these things happen around the world it has a huge impact but when it happens in your own country it’s even more devastating. You can’t let it affect everything you do in your life. We have to pull to together as a country.”

Chelsea said they felt a parade would be “inappropriate” in light of the tragic events in Manchester. “Given the heightened security threat and recognising that this is a developing situation, we have given this careful consideration,” said a spokesman. “We strongly believe, in the interests of everyone, this is the correct course of action.

“We know the emergency services would have been as professional as ever but we would not want in any way to divert important resources by holding an additional, non-ticketed event on the streets of London.” The club’s player of the year awards night, a ticketed event scheduled for Sunday, will still take place as it is confined to a single area of the venue Battersea Evolution.

Arsenal, seeking a third FA Cup success in four years, have cancelled their screening of the final at the Emirates Stadium. “Should the team win Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, we can also confirm that a victory parade will not take place,” they said in a statement. “We did not want to place any additional pressure on police and security services at this time and have been working closely with them ahead of making this decision.”