Tottenham facing fresh calls to ban the Y-word

TOTTENHAM are under increasing pressure to take action against their own supporters after the influential World Jewish Congress urged the club to take an ‘overdue’ stand against those who selfidentify with the Yword. Spurs fans regularly chant ‘Y** Army’ and salute their players as ‘Y****s’ in recognition of the club’s Jewish heritage and in spite of the antisemitic nature of the word. It has served to undermine campaigns to banish the songs, which have been recently led by Chelsea — a club owned by Roman Abramovich, a Russian Jew — who are determined to stop a small section of their fans who persist in using the Y-word to taunt their London rivals. The problem flared up among Chelsea fans at a recent Europa League tie in Hungary. With Chelsea and Spurs meeting at Wembley on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, the World Jewish Congress issued a statement from New York. WJC chief executive Robert Singer said: ‘Contrary to the protests of many fans, there is no grey area when it comes to slurs that target a particular religious, racial or ethnic group. We hope actions being taken by Chelsea will establish the groundwork for more tolerance. We would also ask Tottenham to take a stand against the use of Y** Army, Y** and Y****s by their fans. Such a long overdue action is important to kick antisemitism off the pitch.’ A Tottenham spokesman said: ‘We remain wholly committed to ensuring a zero tolerance position is adopted in respect of anti-semitic behaviour. The Y-word was originally adopted to deflect such abuse. We have been clear that our fans (both Jewish and gentile) have never used the term to cause offence. A re-assessment of its use can only occur effectively within the context of a total clampdown on unacceptable anti-semitism.’