Fans’ crusader outfits might upset Muslims, warns BBC
But MPs hit back saying it’s just PC nonsense to worry about fancy dress
THE BBC has suggested England football fans risk offending Muslims if they wear crusader outfits at Euro 2016.
The fancy- dress costume is a common sight at sporting events. But a blog post on the BBC site iWonder questioned whether it could be seen as harmless fun.
The article also raised the issue of the cross of St George’s connections with far-right nationalism.
But MPs said the piece was a ‘ludicrous’ example of political correctness at the BBC. Several fans have said it will only spur them on to wear the chainmail costumes.
‘A special thanks to the BBC, because there will now be thousands of crusaders in France, offensive or not,’ said one.
Other fans insisted that wearing outfits displaying the St George’s cross was a British custom and a part of the nation’s cultural heritage.
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: ‘The BBC has a misguided guilt complex, it’s absolutely the PC Brigade doing this.
‘I don’t think an England supporter dressing up as a crusader is offensive to anyone other than these do-gooders, it is ludicrous. They need to get out more.’
The sentiment was echoed by several fans, with one saying: ‘Where do I buy my Crusader outfit then? Anything to annoy the BBC PC Brigade.’
The iWonder site offers interactive guides on a range of science and culture topics. However, it was announced in May that it would be closed and the format redeployed across BBC online. The piece gave a timeline of the his- tory of the Crusades and examined what the outfits might represent to different people.
It said: ‘Perhaps you mean to dress up as a crusader. Knights are associated with strength and honour through stories of chivalrous heroes like King Arthur.
‘However, crusaders were the perpetrators of violent attacks across Europe and the Middle East on Muslims, Jews and pagans.’
It continued to say: ‘Perhaps you mean to dress up as St George. However, the real St George wouldn’t have worn anything like this.
‘He was a Palestinian and a soldier in the Roman army in the 3rd century AD, so he would have worn scale armour, not mail armour.’
This led one reader to comment: ‘I don’t know where you get your historical information, but the cross of St George and knights are NOT offensive. It’s cultural heritage.’
Mark Perryman, of the supporters group London England Fans, told the Times: ‘There are all kinds of issues around racism and Islamophobia but I don’t think this is one of them.
‘I have never known any country to take offence to it and I’m sure they won’t now.’
A poll at the bottom of the BBC article found that only 15 per cent thought that people should not wear crusader outfits.
A BBC spokesman said the iWonder guide was designed to ‘ask questions which encourage debate’ rather than pass judgment.
The article said German fans in lederhosen, Irish fans dressed as shamrocks and Australians as kangaroos was clearly ‘fun’. It also discussed the New Zealand haka dance, which is done before rugby matches, saying it had links to conflict.
‘They need to get out more’