Police and prosecutors have been told to get tough on football fans who sing offensive songs about Hillsborough, Munich and other football-related tragedies.
According to The Times:
Fans convicted of “tragedy-related abuse” will face bans from domestic and international matches, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) officials said.
The beefed-up guidance to police and prosecutors comes after a Manchester United fan was banned from football matches having worn a shirt to the FA Cup final in June that featured an offensive slur.
James White, 33, pleaded guilty to displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
The message on his shirt referred to the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in which 97 Liverpool supporters were killed and more than 760 were injured.
In court, the prosecution said White wore the shirt with the intention of insulting the victims of the Hillsborough disaster and their families.
He was sentenced to a four-year banning order, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a £400 victim surcharge and costs.
He is not the only person to be charged recently in relation to the Hillsborough disaster. Zakir Hussain, 28, was prosecuted after he posted numerous offensive comments on Twitter.
Hussain “tagged” a family member of one of the Hillsborough victims and made racist comments about Tottenham Hotspur supporters.
He pleaded guilty to five offences under the Communications Act and in June was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison, suspended for a year.
His sentence was increased from eight to 14 weeks to reflect what the prosecution described as “the hate-crime element of his offending”.
Hussain will now face a hearing that will decide whether he is issued with a football banning order.
The updated guidance by the CPS comes ahead of the start of the Premier League season on Friday.
Guidance to prosecutors details how they can apply for football banning orders to stop fans attending matches and impose other restrictions, such as banning them from areas or pubs while a match or tournament is taking place.
CPS officials described “tragedy-related abuse” as fans singing or chanting offensive messages about disasters or accidents that involved players or supporters or making related gestures.
Prosecutors specifically cited references to Hillsborough, the Munich air disaster of 1958, which involved Manchester United, the Bradford stadium fire in 1985, the Leeds fans who were killed in Istanbul in 2000 and the death of Emiliano Sala, the Argentine player killed in a plane crash in 2019.
The CPS added that the guidance also included reference to other “hate crimes” such as homophobic or racist chanting or gestures.
