British Soccer Team Asks Fans To Cease Anti-Semitic Chant
Alvaro Morata of Chelsea celebrates scoring his first goal for the team during the Premier League match against Leicester on at September 9, 2017. Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — The British soccer team Chelsea called on its own fans to stop singing an anti-Semitic chant in tribute to the signing of a new player.
Spanish national Alvaro Morata signed this summer with Chelsea, arriving from the Real Madrid team.
Morata scored on Saturday against Leicester City, again prompting the chant: “Alvaro, oh, Alvaro, oh. He came from Real Madrid, he hates the f****** Yids.”
Yid is a perjorative term to describe a Jewish person. The term is used by Chelsea fans to insult their rivals Tottenham Hotspur, known as the Spurs, which has many Jewish supporters who sometimes call themselves the “Yid army.” However, the term often is used derogatorily by opposing fans.
Chelsea released a statement following Saturday’s game which said: “The club and the players appreciate the fans’ passionate support away from home but the language in that song is not acceptable at all. We have spoken to Alvaro after the game, he does not want to be connected with that song in any way. Both the club and the player request the supporters stop singing that song with immediate effect.”
Alvaro also tweeted after the game: “Since I arrived, I have been able to feel your support every single day, you are amazing and I’d like to ask you to please respect everyone!”
In October 2013, Scotland Yard threatened to arrest fans who used the term “Yid.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
