A football match between Manchester United and Chelsea Football Club was marred following homophobic chants by a “large group” of the Manchester United supporters.
As reported by the Irish Independent, Chelsea alleged that these chants occurred during the game, which took place at Stamford Bridge football stadium on Monday.
A number of these fans were prevented from entering the grounds ahead of the two rival clubs playing against each other, while others were outright ejected from the game, which saw Man United win 2-0 against their opponent.
A statement from Chelsea’s website referred to the homophobic chants by Manchester United fans as “unacceptable” and stated, “This behaviour will not be tolerated at Chelsea Football Club”.
Continuing on, the club has stated that the homophobic supporters “will be banned from attending matches at Stamford Bridge in future”. Chelsea has also said they are cooperating with Manchester United, stating, “we have passed the details of those supporters to them so they can take appropriate action.”
The club finished on their support for action against discrimination: “Chelsea Football Club is a diverse and inclusive club and will always take firm action against all forms of discriminatory behaviour.”
Man United took a similar stance, disapproving of the chants while further going further with the allegations, saying that a song sang by some of its fans ran counter to the values of the club.
A spokesman for the club has stated, “Manchester United has a long-standing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, embodied through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative.
“We were the first club to sign up to the TeamPride coalition and continue to collaborate with Stonewall and other anti-discriminatory organisations in this area.
“Our fans were vocal as always in their support for the team on Monday night and we appreciate that loyal backing. However, this song directed against Chelsea FC – or any other club – by some of our fans runs counter to our values.
“We will continue to engage in campaigns to raise awareness and fight discrimination in all forms.”
This hasn’t been the first time a football match was halted due to homophobic chants and abuse, which was seen during a game in France, and again in Brazil. Both of these happened in August – only a few days apart – back in 2019.
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