Tragedy chants could lead to fans being arrested or banned after vile songs about disasters, including Hillsborough and Munich
- Clashes between rival fans have led to sick chants of football disasters
- Fans refer to the Hillsborough and Munich disasters in songs
- Referees now also give a card when faced with two or more players
Fans singing about tragedies could be arrested and banned, while referees will be told to hand out cards when confronted by two or more players under a new code of conduct aimed at cleaning up football.
Following talks between the sport’s governing bodies and the Crown Prosecution Service, singing sick songs about disasters such as Munich and Hillsborough will be classified as a criminal offence.
And as part of a set of comprehensive rules, players and coaches who repeatedly insult referees will face increased penalties from the Football Association.
The changes, made in time for the new season, include a crackdown on what has been dubbed “tragedy chanting.” That includes offensive gestures and display of offensive messages that officials say are causing “significant distress to the families of the victims, survivors and supporters of the affected club.”
Mail sports understands that stewards are unlikely to wade into a crowd to arrest those responsible. Instead, such behavior is likely to be reported to the police control box, where CCTV footage is captured prior to later retroactive action.
Fans singing about tragedies could be arrested or banned following talks between the sport’s governing bodies and CPS following vile songs about disasters, including Hillsborough
Under a new code of conduct, referees will also be told to show cards if confronted by two or more players (Man City players confront Anthony Taylor during a match with Arsenal).
On the field, authorities are seeking a ‘reset’ in how those playing and watching the game behave. A ‘Participant Charter’ will see that referees are encouraged to issue at least a yellow card when faced with two or more players.
Last season, the FA handed out more than 20 fines to Premier League clubs for surrounding match officials or mass confrontations, totaling more than £1 million.
From the forthcoming campaign, managers will be required to attend a pre-match briefing, while ‘players and team officials who are not on the team sheet will not be allowed to enter the technical room’.
No occupant of the technical room may “enter the field to confront a match official at half-time or full-time”, while during the match only one person can stand in front of the technical room and, while a second person can stand, they ‘have to stay very close to the seats in the technical room’.
Meanwhile, players are not allowed to “incite or escalate a mass confrontation with opponents and/or technical space inhabitants.”