13 August 2023 , 16:18
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A number of Chelsea supporters could be heard singing vile chants referencing the Hillsborough disaster during the first half of Sunday's match against Liverpool, despite the Premier League claiming they could face sanctions.
In the first Stamford Bridge game of the season, chants of "always the victims" and "Murderers" could be heard coming from home sections of the stands, with the latter chant occurring just after Luis Diaz had opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 18th minute.
Chelsea issued a statement condemning the chants when they were heard when the teams last met in the Premier League in April.
The statement read: "Chelsea FC condemns the inappropriate chants heard from some home fans during this evening’s game. Hateful chanting has no place in football and we apologise to anyone who has been offended by them."
Liverpool responded to the statement about the chants, which were also aimed at pundit and ex-Reds defender Jamie Carragher, by saying: "We know the impact these vile chants have on those who continue to suffer as a result of football tragedies. For their sake, this has to stop."
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Premier League clubs came together this summer to agree to tackle the rise in so-called 'tragedy chanting' aiming to put an end to chants referencing Hillsborough, the Munich Air disaster, the 2000 murder of two Leeds United fans in Istanbul and other football-related tragedies. Criminal prosecution of offenders is the league's ultimate aim.
Vile chants could be heard shortly after Luis Diaz gave Liverpool the lead (Ian Stephen/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)The chants heard in last season's match came in the same week that Manchester City also issued an apology for their fans singing songs referencing Hillsborough.
In June, a Premier League statement declared that they would “address the unacceptable rise in anti-social behaviour involving football tragedy-related chanting, gesturing, graffiti, online abuse and other behaviours last season."
They continued: “[These] issues have continued to cause significant distress to the victims’ families, survivors and affected-club supporters, in addition to damaging the reputation of the clubs involved and football in England and Wales. The action will focus on criminal prosecution, the regulatory environment, enforcement, online abuse, education and communications.
“Following further football partner sign-off, full details will be publicly announced ahead of the season as part of the Love Football, Protect the Game campaign which was launched last year.”