April 02, (THEWILL) – The England Football Association has strongly condemned a group of Manchester City’s supporters after they were heard chanting about the Hillsborough disaster during the team’s victory over Liverpool on Saturday.
Despite Pep Guardiola’s side recovering from an early deficit to win comfortably 4-1 against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds at the Etihad Stadium, the game was marred by the conduct of some fans. City issued an apology after the match for the inappropriate chants and also for the damage caused to the Liverpool team bus as it left the stadium.
The FA has now released a statement expressing their concern about the repeated use of abhorrent chants in stadiums related to football-related tragedies. “These chants are highly offensive and are deeply upsetting for the families, friends, and communities, who have been impacted by these devastating events, and we strongly condemn this behaviour,” read the statement.
“We support clubs and fans, who try to stamp out this behaviour from our game. We also support the excellent work of the survivor groups, who engage with stakeholders across football to help educate people about the damaging and lasting effects that these terrible chants can have.”
This is not the first time that the FA has had to criticise City supporters for their behaviour relating to Hillsborough. Last year, a similar incident led to Guardiola speaking out against the chants. The disaster occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989, and the memory of it remains deeply ingrained in the Liverpool community.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
