Wolverhampton Wanderers, better known as Wolves, has become the first football club to be fined for homophobic chanting. The side, which competes in England’s top division, the Premier League, received a £100,000 sanction from the Football Association (FA), who also imposed an 11-point action plan for the club, which must be implemented for the entirety of the 2023/24 season.
The incident occurred during a match on April 8, which saw Wolves record a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. During the game in the Molineux Stadium, a “large number of supporters” of the home side were twice heard shouting the infamous “Chelsea rent boy” chant for “a prolonged period of approximately 20 seconds each in the 61st and also in the 71st minutes”. Three spectators were arrested by West Midlands Police, and the case was referred to an independent commission, which ultimately handed out the fine.
Wolves accepted breaches of FA rule E21 and admitted to failing to ensure its fans didn’t “behave in a way which is improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting with either express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.
Welcoming the decision regarding the homophobic chanting, Tracy Brown, Chair of Chelsea Pride and a representative on the Chelsea FC Fan Advisory Board, told PinkNews, “This is a stark warning to fans and clubs that discrimination has no place in football, actions have consequences.
“The hate the LGBTQ+ fanbase can experience at football has to end. Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia has no place in the game.”
Our Chair Tracy spoke to @PinkNews following Wolverhampton Wanderers becoming the first club to be sanctioned by the @FA over supporters engaging in homophobic chanting.#NoToHate | #RetireTheChant | #LGBTQ+ | @ChelseaFC | @CFCFoundation | @FvHtweets https://t.co/vuWwfBhRzC
— Chelsea Pride ⭐️⭐️? (@ChelseaPride_) July 17, 2023
The fine comes after a record number of discriminatory incidents were reported during the 2022/23 football season. According to the latest figures from Kick It Out, who campaign to fight all forms of discrimination in sports, there were 1,007 reports in total, a 65.1% increase from the previous year.
The incidents occurred across both professional and grassroots levels, and also on social media. Racism remains the most prevalent form of abuse, while incidents involving sexism and misogyny suffered an alarming increase of 400%.
“The significant leap in reports highlights that discrimination is still a serious issue within the game, although the record figures could also be attributed to an increased awareness of reporting procedures and fans becoming less tolerant of discriminatory behaviour,” Kick It Out stated.
Kick It Out received a record 1,007 reports of discrimination for the 2022/23 season.
If you see, hear or experience discrimination, report it.
Together we can Kick It Out.
Read full report by clicking the link below ?#KickItOut
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) July 12, 2023
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