According to the Home Office, the number of football matches where hate crime was reported increased by 47 per cent during the 2018/2019 season.
The data produced found that hate crime was reported at 193 matches in 2018/2019, up from 131 matches during the previous season. And out of the 193 matches where such crimes were reported, almost 80% of the offences in question were racially motivated.
Chelsea are often viewed to have racist fans.
But it was Burnley fans that came out on top, with a surprising 17 instances where the Clarets were reported, while Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham were the subject of 13 reports each. Out of the 17 incidents with Burnley fans, 15 were to do with race and 2 related to a person(s) sexual orientation.
The club issued a statement saying:
“Burnley is aware of the figure highlighted in the data and believes the number of instances reported reflects the club’s pro-active stance on such issues, as a club, we operate a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination at Turf Moor and amongst our supporters at away matches. We actively encourage our supporters to report any relevant incidents, including those suspected from our own fans, which we believe is reflected by the number of reports made.”
You may remember when a Chelsea fan hurled racist slurs at Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling during a Premier League match on December 8, 2018. The Chelsea supporter was banned for life in June 2019, but the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to bring a criminal charge. This just shows how serious clubs are taking such hate crimes, regardless of the motive behind them. This season (2019/2020) hasn’t been much better. Wycombe keeper Ryan Allsop reported receiving homophobic abuse along side John Busby during the match against Tranmere last Sunday, while last month players from Haringey Borough decided to walk off the pitch during their FA Cup qualifying match against Yeovil over the racist abuse they were receiving.
Scotty ✅
