Hull City Fined £30,000 for Homophobic Chanting Ahead of Chelsea Match
Hull City will head to Stamford Bridge this weekend under a cloud of their own making, after being fined £30,000 for discriminatory chanting during February’s 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Chelsea.
The punishment, announced by the Football Association on Friday, follows a grim night at the MKM Stadium when homophobic chants rang out despite repeated warnings over the public address system and messages on the big screens telling supporters to stop.
The FA charged Hull with failing to ensure their spectators did not “use words or behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent or insulting way with a reference – whether express or implied – to sexual orientation”. The club accepted the charge and the financial penalty.
The fallout has been sharp.
Hull revealed that three supporters have been banned for “a minimum of three years” for their involvement. Three people were also arrested at the match on suspicion of engaging in homophobic chanting. One fan group branded the scenes a “stain on our game”, a phrase that has hung over the club since.
The club’s own language has been uncompromising.
“Hull City condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the offensive and inappropriate language used by the supporters responsible,” it said in a statement, stressing that the chant “is recognised as a homophobic slur and its use may constitute a hate crime”.
The warning now is blunt: use that chant again and you risk arrest and criminal charges.
With a Premier League meeting against Chelsea looming on Saturday, Hull have moved to get ahead of any repeat. The club has urged its travelling support to leave the chant behind and made clear that any form of discrimination will be met with zero tolerance.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge, the club reminds all supporters that discrimination of any kind is wholly unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” the statement continued.
The message is simple as Hull return to face the same opponents: the line has been drawn. What happens in the away end at Stamford Bridge will show how clearly it has been heard.
