Man City issue private apology to Hillsborough survivors group after Anfield chants
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance have asked for City’s apology to be made in public after away supporters sang about the disaster at Anfield last Sunday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Manchester City have apologised to the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance for the “hateful” songs their supporters sang at Anfield about the 1989 disaster that claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans and vowed to take action against the offenders.
But the charity has called upon the Premier League champions to make a public apology after saying chants of “murderers” and “always the victims, never your fault” damaged the mental health of those affected by the tragedy.
City condemned their own fans in an email, pledged to urge fans not to sing such songs before April’s rematch and asked other supporters to report anything they hear.
City said: “We are sorry to read that you and other families have been affected by the events which took place on Sunday, particularly given your personal connections to the tragedy of the Hillsborough disaster.
“As a club, we strongly condemn the chanting or singing of songs with connotations to footballing tragedies and will continue to sanction those individuals who are found responsible for such behaviour.
“Alongside condemning behaviour of this nature, we stand with Liverpool fans in marking the anniversary of Hillsborough each year to remember those who sadly lost their lives. At the same time, we also commend the actions of many organisations who continue to educate the wider public about the tragedy and those who call for positive action to be taken through the Hillsborough Law campaign.
“Ahead of the next meeting between our two clubs, we will contact all of our season ticket and matchday members to reiterate that this kind of hateful chanting has no place in the game and ask the vast majority of our fans who would never engage in such behaviour to call out and report any individual that chooses to do so.”
The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance said: “We’re glad they have replied to the email. We have replied again asking for a public statement.”
City had not made any public comment about the chants in Sunday’s match, during which coins were thrown by Liverpool fans at Pep Guardiola. Liverpool have vowed to give lifelong bans to any supporters found to be responsible for that.
The FA has opened an investigation into events on Sunday, including the incident when the windscreen of the City team coach was damaged when objects were thrown at it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments