Follow the Manchester United vs Liverpool politics in today’s Premier League
The nasty chants have long been an eerie soundtrack for football matches in the UK, but the government is now taking a hard line with those responsible.
In particular, tragic chants – explained through the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as “tragedy-related abuse” – can now lead to arrests and bans.
Here, The Athletic explains how tragic it is to make a song, its effects, and how it’s approached.
GO FURTHER
Munich Air Disaster: The Crash – “Oh my God. . . We’re going to make it. “
Tragic chants occur when fans release offensive songs referencing fatal injuries or stadium errors involving players, fans or officials from rival clubs.
Examples of tragic chants come with enthusiastic rivals referencing:
Chants around those occasions were widely condemned in football and remained in stadiums.
In April 2023, a petition to make musical tragedies at football matches a criminal offence garnered more than 17,000 signatures over the course of a week. This followed chants similar to the Hillsborough crisis in Liverpool’s Premier League matches against Chelsea and Manchester United.
GO FURTHER
“Please avoid making a song about Hillsborough and Munich”
In August 2023, the PSC issued new rules related to punishment for tragic chants. It says that “tragedy-like abuses” can be prosecuted as a public order offence, and enthusiasts will in all likelihood be punished with a “football ban order”, meaning they may simply be prevented from attending matches and tournaments, travelling to certain venues and denied entry. Gaming pubs.
Advertising
Douglas Mackay of the CPS said the updated rules show that “despicable behavior will not be tolerated” with tragic slogans “crossing the line of crime. “
Police Chief Mark Roberts, the NPCC’s head of football watch, added: “We are working hard with CPS and supporting those efforts to tackle the stupid and vicious chants that are unfortunately carried out through a minority of supporters. “
The UK government said of the tragic chants: “The government is committed to addressing all destructive behaviour at football matches. Existing law can be used to prosecute those who sing about tragedies and deaths in football.
“Existing law can be used to prosecute offenders who chant or shout about tragedies and deaths at football matches. The Public Order Act 1986 (POA) provides for conditions under which threatening or abusive language could reach the threshold for arrest and prosecution.
The football government also considers the song “Always the victims, it’s never your fault”, addressed to Liverpool fans through rival clubs, as a tragic chant related to the Hillsborough disaster.
Ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, the English Football Association published a letter aimed at behaviour in football, which included a commitment to confront and punish tragic chants.
The letter referred to the “unacceptable presence” of tragic chants in stadiums and “the arrival of new strict measures” that would see those guilty of crimes face “stadium bans and prosecution as a conceivable offender. “
The fundamental rules have been updated to incorporate references to tragic songs, thus expanding the scope of sanctions.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham called the tragedy-like abuse “totally unacceptable”, while Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the league was “committed to punishing those responsible (for the tragic chants) and would also concentrate on educating everyone’s enthusiasts”. . age”.
Advertising
Last month, Manchester United and Liverpool announced that their respective foundations had introduced a joint programme to combat tragic chants. This comes after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) arrested and charged a man following reports of alleged “tragic chanting” in the FA Cup quarter-finals. clashes between the two sides on 17 March.
The FA raised concerns in November 2023 about the frequency of offensive chants related to the Hillsborough crisis. There have been several cases of enthusiasts being punished for tragedy-like abuses since the CPS updated its prosecution rules:
Tragic chants were also heard at Premier League clubs’ matches.
In February 2023, the Premier League said it was treating the factor as an “urgent matter” following chants between Leeds United and Manchester United supporters. Chants referencing the Munich air crisis and the murders of Loftus and Speight were exchanged between rival fans.
In March, a Manchester City fan was arrested on suspicion of mocking the Munich air crisis ahead of the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium.
In 2011, Crawley Town banned a fan for life after making a plane gesture in the club’s official video ahead of their FA Cup match against Manchester United.
GO FURTHER
Munich Air Disaster: The Legacy: “We Don’t Want Babies to Be Forgotten”
(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)