LONDON (Reuters) – The Premier League has announced plans to provide educational resources for school children in an effort to address the issue of tragedy abuse that often occurs at matches in England.
A recent incident at a match between newly-promoted Luton Town and Liverpool saw some of the Luton fans chanting in reference to the Hillsborough tragedy, prompting widespread condemnation.
“The Premier League strongly condemns all forms of football tragedy abuse and was appalled by the chanting heard at Sunday’s match,” a statement said.
“We, alongside clubs, The Football Association and Football League, continue to treat offensive tragedy-related chanting, gesturing and displaying of abusive messages as unacceptable and are committed to working together to address it as a priority.”
Starting next week, educational resources will be provided to 18,000 primary schools and 6,000 teachers in England and Wales. This includes a video by Liverpool supporter Margaret Aspinall, whose son James was one of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy.
“The pain it causes is unbearable; we do not deserve to hear these chants, they hurt just as much as losing your child,” Aspinall, former Chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said in a statement.
“If you hear that chanting, go to a steward, report it as, through the proper authorities, you can change things. Anything that offends or hurts anybody is never acceptable.”
This season, new measures were introduced to potentially ban or criminally prosecute those engaged in vile chants, and the Premier League believes that education can also play a crucial role in combating the issue.
“Football tragedy abuse causes significant distress to the victims’ families and other football supporters,” the Premier League said.
“As part of the package of measures announced at the start of the season, the Premier League will launch education resources to help children understand the hurt and impact of negative behavior such as tragedy-related abuse.”
Luton Town issued a statement expressing their sadness at the behavior of some of their fans and warned of potential bans for those found to be involved.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who was working at the game for Sky Sports, also spoke out against the chants, emphasizing the need for a line to be drawn.
“As supporters, you’ve got to have rivalry, there is no doubt. But we’re better than that,” Carragher said.
“It’s happened two or three times in the game. All clubs have been guilty of that over the years at different times.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
