Chelsea face partial stadium closure if Uefa finds fans guilty of antisemitism

[SirBalon]

 

Chelsea will be forced to close part of Stamford Bridge in the Europa League if Uefa concludes their fans were guilty of an antisemitic chant in Budapest.

The governing body hopes to receive on Friday reports which will enable it to decide whether to open a disciplinary case. Chelsea have strongly condemned a section of their fans for a chant which referenced “yids” in the Europa League game at Vidi but Uefa needs to take its own judgment.

Uefa regulations state that the “club responsible is punished with a minimum of a partial stadium closure” if its supporters engage in behaviour which “insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion or ethnic origin”.

Precedent indicates that if Chelsea fans are found guilty the club would be punished with a partial stadium closure for one Europa League match.

The Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fàbregas said after the game in Hungary: “If we have to be taught a lesson at Chelsea to improve whatever happens around the world, then I’m happy. But to point the finger at one football club because of three or four of these people, I don’t think it’s deserved and I don’t agree with that.”

Chelsea have said they will punish any fans “found to have shamed the club by using antisemitic or racist words or actions”. In their most recent home game there was alleged racist abuse of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling.

 

Source: The Guardian

[LFCMadLad]

Awful club. All this recent racist shit on top of their owners dodgy Russian mafia money....

Something needs to be done!

[Cicero]

Throw away the key! 

[Bluewolf]

29 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Awful club. All this recent racist shit on top of their owners dodgy Russian mafia money....

Something needs to be done!

What might you suggest be done?? 

[LFCMadLad]

4 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

What might you suggest be done?? 

I don't know mate but things can't carry on like this can they? 

[Cicero]

 Actually enforce a zero tolerance policy and ban the cunts for life. 

[LFCMadLad]

3 hours ago, Cicero said:

 Actually enforce a zero tolerance policy and ban the cunts for life. 

If they did that you'd have a home attendance of about 100 people 

[Bluewolf]

49 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

I don't know mate but things can't carry on like this can they? 

Of course not... Problem with stadium closures in full or in part does kind of tar everyone with the same brush though... bit unfair on sensible match going fans to be subject to such closures when all they want to do is go and enjoy a day out.... The old bill along with the club must know who these people are or what sections of the crowd tend to be more vocal than others. We all know it's the old school hard core element of fans they are not that hard to spot or indeed hear on any matchday... 

The biggest problem is getting evidence against these people, the 4 fans that got done this week were an easy catch but the further in it gets the harder it is to start pinpointing who is doing or saying what so that it stands up either in court or gives enough evidence to be banning them from the ground period.. If you are going to be shutting part of the ground then make it the sections you know are more likely to be causing the grief.. 

On another note although I totally agree that this type of behavior is unwanted the bloke who was highlighted last week lost his job and may well end up with worse if they can prove he was shouting racist obscenities.. He will of course deserve all he gets if that's the case but I am curious about the other 3 that were banned?? As far as I am aware they joined in with the abuse but no mention of their names or of any racist comments ( as far as I am aware that is )  so were they banned because they were being abusive??? because if that's the case I think every single player in the league at some point has received a varying level of abuse from the front row of fans of the opposition at all grounds up and down the country... 

[Spike]

1. How do they know it was an English Chelsea supporter?
2. Utter retardation considering the owner is Jewish ethnically.

2 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

Awful club. All this recent racist shit on top of their owners dodgy Russian mafia money....

Something needs to be done!

But it was the fans, not the club...

[Spike]

English people are so weird. There couldn't be more than a tens of thousands of Jews in the UK and yet all this Antisemitism.

[LFCMadLad]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

English people are so weird. 

Typical pfft

Point proven 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, LFCMadLad said:

Typical pfft

Point proven 

What point!? 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Bluewolf said:

Of course not... Problem with stadium closures in full or in part does kind of tar everyone with the same brush though... bit unfair on sensible match going fans to be subject to such closures when all they want to do is go and enjoy a day out.... The old bill along with the club must know who these people are or what sections of the crowd tend to be more vocal than others. We all know it's the old school hard core element of fans they are not that hard to spot or indeed hear on any matchday... 

The biggest problem is getting evidence against these people, the 4 fans that got done this week were an easy catch but the further in it gets the harder it is to start pinpointing who is doing or saying what so that it stands up either in court or gives enough evidence to be banning them from the ground period.. If you are going to be shutting part of the ground then make it the sections you know are more likely to be causing the grief.. 

On another note although I totally agree that this type of behavior is unwanted the bloke who was highlighted last week lost his job and may well end up with worse if they can prove he was shouting racist obscenities.. He will of course deserve all he gets if that's the case but I am curious about the other 3 that were banned?? As far as I am aware they joined in with the abuse but no mention of their names or of any racist comments ( as far as I am aware that is )  so were they banned because they were being abusive??? because if that's the case I think every single player in the league at some point has received a varying level of abuse from the front row of fans of the opposition at all grounds up and down the country... 

A stadium ban is for sure harsh on ordinary fans who aren't racist. But I think part of the idea is, because it's unfair on fans, in the future if shit like this happens it makes it more likely Chelsea fans that aren't racist will ID and notify the shitty people quicker.

[Spike]

The English; all about inclusivity until the fellow at the football game isn't from the same town. A fellow can immigrate from Botswana and be English, but can't be from London and support Newcastle. Dearie, me.

[LFCMadLad]

As if people are actually taking this seriously 

I honestly couldn't give a monkey's toss what Chelsea or their fans do or say.

They are a vile lot though 

[Bluewolf]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

A stadium ban is for sure harsh on ordinary fans who aren't racist. But I think part of the idea is, because it's unfair on fans, in the future if shit like this happens it makes it more likely Chelsea fans that aren't racist will ID and notify the shitty people quicker.

For sure.. Although that's a good thing I don't believe that anywhere near enough is being done by the powers that be to support that... They spout off enough but don't really come down hard enough, In this day an age of high profile football with about 10 to 15 cameras at every ground along with Police Surveillance on matchdays  and the grounds own security they must be able identify some of the core of these people... Asking people to step forward brings it's own separate issues, I am not against it, but once these people have been identified and pointed out then comes the witness statements and possible days in court or down the old bill shop... At that point after the initial identification has been made I wonder how many would see it through to it's conclusion?? 

Sadly this is not just a Chelsea thing... This sort of thing is happening up and down the country.. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

The English; all about inclusivity until the fellow at the football game isn't from the same town. A fellow can immigrate from Botswana and be English, but can't be from London and support Newcastle. Dearie, me.

I think people from London not supporting a club in London is weird - it's not like there's a shortage of clubs from London to pick from.

[carefreeluke]

As far as I'm aware, it's in reference to a song Chelsea fans have sung for years. If it is truly in reference to that and not anything else, then, for the most part, there's no racial abuse applied at least not intentionally. The debate revolves around the use of the word 'Yid' and how Tottenham have identified themselves in the face of adversity (some would say) to the tag. For the majority of Chelsea fans 'Yid' is a term seen solely as part of the representation of Tottenham as a football club as Spurs fans have taken the tag on and have done more than reinforce it over the years as part of their identity. In a way Tottenham have rebranded the use of that term and hence for the most part if this word is used against Spurs in any way these days, at face value, it's solely on a football basis. The origins and story of why Spurs identify themselves with it is another story and yes this well could have been in response to torment from opposition fans. 

I have witnessed antisemitism following Chelsea and I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I have also seen cases where Chelsea fans have played on the word and turned into a definitive race crime. West Ham, Millwall, and Arsenal have all been more than guilty of having similar cases over the years though as well. It is not solely a Chelsea problem. 

The bigger picture though is that if the term 'Yid'  and its origins, use, identification, and connotations are not necessarily crystal clear, the fact remains that if in some contexts it has been used in a negative form, over the years, this is enough to say that opposition fans should not be using it as a form of negative expression against Spurs. Even if that hate doesn't necessarily come from a purely antisemitic viewpoint. The problem though is that this is football fans. They may be aware that the word can have negative connotations but see it more as symbolic of Tottenham from a football point of view. They aren't necessarily singling out minority groups, the term has come to be a representation of the Spurs fanbase as a whole and in a way taken on a different meaning. It's not now for the most part related to race at all. Of course, there have been many occasions where Chelsea fans, West Ham fans, Arsenal fans and even fans outside of London have used in a racial way but for the most part, this hasn't been the case. Maybe it was used in a racial way in Hungary this week which sort of ruins the point I was trying to make. Above all, however, the answer lies in the use of Spurs fans' identification with the word over the years, the use of the word historically in different periods and the unawareness of football fans as a whole.

More importantly, though, it's a shit song, so it shouldn't be used anyway.

[Honey Honey]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

The English; all about inclusivity until the fellow at the football game isn't from the same town. A fellow can immigrate from Botswana and be English, but can't be from London and support Newcastle. Dearie, me.

It would help things if it was upheld.

The only Chelsea fans who live anywhere near Stamford Bridge are in their 90's and wear fancy dress on a daily basis. Doubt they'd be a problem, they're too busy shaking buckets of copper at passers by.

[SirBalon]

3 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

For sure.. Although that's a good thing I don't believe that anywhere near enough is being done by the powers that be to support that... They spout off enough but don't really come down hard enough, In this day an age of high profile football with about 10 to 15 cameras at every ground along with Police Surveillance on matchdays  and the grounds own security they must be able identify some of the core of these people... Asking people to step forward brings it's own separate issues, I am not against it, but once these people have been identified and pointed out then comes the witness statements and possible days in court or down the old bill shop... At that point after the initial identification has been made I wonder how many would see it through to it's conclusion?? 

Sadly this is not just a Chelsea thing... This sort of thing is happening up and down the country.. 

I've argued this point in the thread relating to the racial abuse that was allegedly thrown at Raheem Sterling...

Clubs DO KNOW exactly to the last seat who are those problem individuals.  Clubs work hand in hand with the policing and local government authorities with these issues being a big part of their studies and more importantly, part of how the police subsequently implement and exercise security for all.

Haven't you ever found it curious how foreign authorities (on European matchdays) are advised and informed in who problem fans will be or at the very minimum telling them that their are a substantial group of fans that have to be controlled and observed, possibly not even admitted into the football arena on matchday.

They know, but as I added in that other thread, they don't want to eliminate that whole group of fans and feel that only acting on every particular moment something is brought into the public eye that this will give a levelled helping hand to control the situation for the clubs, that when they ban these singled out individuals, that they are seen as being responsible and punishing accordingly.

It's all rubbish!  If you eliminate a large proportion of those fans, then you end up with a sanitised atmosphere and subsequently things like Arsenal for example who didn't exactly target that core, but literally just acted in a classist manner which in turn made them more profits and priced them out.

It may sound controversial, but this is another case of classism and that's a fact.  In the same way areas in London have been gentrified and eliminated the infamous level of street crime and shoddy aesthetics it used to have by pricing out the original demographic (or at least the one that ended up living there before being forced to move on), here we have a similar outcome.  I mentioned how at Barcelona and Real Madrid they expelled their hardcore ultras fanbase that was predominantly racist and violent but created an immense amount of atmosphere... They done it because they KNEW who they were and they done it because they wanted them out due to the new and stronger government and football authority laws implemented to crack down on racism and all sorts of violent, aggressive and anti-family sociological attitudes that were constantly making the headlines.  When they did that the atmosphere (as many that watch or have gone to one of their games will know) died and turned sterile.

What atmosphere do you get at Arsenal these days other than that ridiculous and embarrassing monologue chant of AAAAARsenal AAAAARsenal etc... It's stupid!  Nothing like what it was when I was a kid and the diversity of songs and chants meant you had to learn them all or you weren't seen as a real Arsenal fan by everyone else.  Everyone is middle to upper class where I have my season ticket coupled with some corporate visitors.  Politicians and famous people sit in and around and in the current North Bank that is where most of the noise is generated (if it can be called that these days) are over 70% middle class people that can afford a season ticket in today's times of uncertainty and food banks.

I'm veering off slightly although I'm not entirely because within my ramblings I've captured the reasons behind why clubs are hesitant to do this and also informing on the fact THEY DEFINITELY KNOW who they are before they even commit the crime they always commit but have been unfortunate to have been caught this time around.