British Soccer Fans Can Now Chant ‘Yid’ Without Fear of Arrest
Yid Army: Fans cheer at a recent match between Tottenham Hotspurs and Aston Villa in England. Image by Getty Images
Fans of the British soccer team Tottenham Hotspurs who use the term “yid” will not be arrested, British police said.
Constable Steve Payne of London’s Metropolitan Police told a meeting of team fans last week that using the word is no longer an arrestable offense, but that fans could still be charged if accused of using the term in a pejorative way, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.
The team, known as the Spurs, has many Jewish supporters who sometimes call themselves the “Yid army.” However, the term often is used derogatorily by opposing fans.
Payne, who works in the police Football Intelligence Unit, said at the meeting of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust that fans of opposing teams making anti-Semitic chants at Spurs supporters would be arrested, and acknowledged that there is a difference between offensive chants using the term yid made by opponents versus the team’s fans using the word.
The English Football Association announced in September that Hotspurs fans could face criminal charges for using yid, calling the term “inappropriate in a football setting.”
However, Tottenham backers have continued to use the term, saying it is not used derogatorily by team supporters. The chants include “Yids,” “Yid army” and “Yiddos.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
