CHELSEA FANS’ HATE CHANT
CHELSEA FANS have been accused of employing an antisemitic chant and holding up a flag that featured the socalled “SS death skull” during a trip to Budapest last week.
A complaint was lodged with Uefa after the chant “Barcelona, Real Madrid, Tottenham are a bunch of Yids... Yiddos” was heard coming from the away end of the Groupama Arena, where Chelsea were taking on Hungarian team Vidi.
It followed a club and police investigation into alleged racist abuse aimed at Raheem Sterling at Stamford Bridge the previous weekend.
Meanwhile, photographs posted on social media showed Chelsea supporters holding up a Northern Ireland flag defaced with the Totenkopf skull and cross symbol, used as an insignia by the Nazi SS and other German units during the Second World War.
The flag, which also references the Chelsea Headhunters, a hooligans’ group with roots in the late 1960s, is not thought to have been waved during the game.
Commenting on The flag bearing the Nazi symbol, and club owner Roman Abramovich
the antisemitic chanting allegations, a Chelsea spokesperson questioned the “brain-power” of some of its fans.
The spokesperson said: “Antisemitism and any other kind of race-related or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans. It has no place at Chelsea or in any of
our communities. Any individuals that can’t summon the brain-power to comprehend this simple message and are found to have shamed the club by used using antisemitism or racist words or actions will face the strongest possible action.”
The London side launched the ‘Say No To Antisemitism’ campaign in January to raise awareness and to educate the club’s players, staff and fans.
Roman Abramovich, the Jewish owner of Chelsea, has donated $1m towards initiatives fighting Jew-hate.