Clubs might now be charged by the Football Association if their followers sing the ‘Chelsea rent boy’ chant.
The chant has been heard at Chelsea’s current matches towards Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, and in addition on the Manchester United v Everton FA Cup match, the place it was aimed on the Toffees boss Frank Lampard, a former Chelsea participant and supervisor.
While the FA has all the time condemned the usage of the time period, it has by no means felt in a position to cost golf equipment over its use previously.
However, it’s understood the current conviction of Liverpool fan Paul Boardman, who admitted utilizing the time period on his technique to final season’s FA Cup ultimate towards Chelsea at Wembley, was a sport changer, and opens the door for the FA to sanction golf equipment the place followers are confirmed to have used the time period.
An FA assertion stated: “Today, the FA has formally written to all clubs across the Premier League, EFL, National League, Women’s Super League, Women’s Championship and Steps 2-4, to remind them that it can pursue formal disciplinary action against any club whose supporters engage in discriminatory behaviour, now including the use of the term ‘rent boy’.
“This important step follows the recent successful prosecution of an individual by the Crown Prosecution Service for homophobic abuse, specifically relating to the term ‘rent boy’.
“The FA has now informed all clubs that it considers the ‘rent boy’ chant to be a breach of the FA rules. These rules apply to the conduct of supporters at both home and away fixtures, and clubs at all levels of English football have a responsibility to ensure their spectators behave appropriately when attending matches.”
The letter is known to be meant as a ‘line in the sand’ to golf equipment, in order that any ‘rent boy’ chants from this level forwards might lead to disciplinary motion.
The Crown Prosecution Service stated final week it was wanting into reported use of the time period by Forest followers throughout their New Year’s Day match towards Chelsea on the City Ground.
Chelsea Pride, an LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, tweeted on the day of the sport, calling on broadcaster Sky Sports to name out the chanting on air, including: “This is now classed as a hate crime.”
Forest’s personal LGBTQ+ Trickies group stated it was “embarrassed and ashamed” by the abuse and apologised on behalf of these accountable.
There had been 106 reported incidents of hate crime involving sexual orientation at matches in England and Wales through the 2021-22 season, in keeping with Home Office figures launched final yr. That represented a 186 per cent improve on 2018-19, the final full season unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic, when there have been 37 such incidents reported.
