More Fans Of This Football Club Have Been Arrested For Racism Than Any Other
By Jenn Selby
Freelance News Editor
Wednesday 19th June 2019
Manchester United fans have topped a list of the most football-related arrests that involve racism.
New data released following a freedom of information request shows that 27 people who were recorded as fans of the Premier League club were arrested between the 2014/15 and 2017/18 seasons.
Leeds United and Millwall were second with 15 arrests each, followed by Leicester with 14 arrests and Chelsea with 13.
According to Sky News, there were 107 arrests during the 2014/15 season, rising to 114 the following season. That figure dropped to 94 arrests in 2016/17 and down to just 75 arrests in 2017/18.
Other clubs with significant arrests included West Ham with 11 arrests, and Barnsley, Manchester City and Middlesbrough, with 10 arrests each.
‘No Place For Racism’
“There is no place for racism within our game, or in society as a whole, and we are committed to working to make football free from all forms of discrimination, whether through our own ‘All Red All Equal’ campaign or in support of Kick It Out and other organisations,” a spokesperson for Manchester United said.
“This statistic applies to 0.0004 per cent of our match-going fanbase. It does not reflect the views or behaviour of our fans as a whole in any way. We continue with monitoring and liaison with authorities to try and identify and eradicate any forms of discriminatory behaviour, and we take appropriate action if it occurs.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Millwall said that the club has a “long and proud history of tackling all forms of discrimination” and that it offered all fans banned from the grounds due to discrimination a chance to attend its Fan Diversity Scheme.
“Education is key when it comes to dealing with people with unpalatable views and football clubs should be at the forefront of efforts to do so,” they added.
Leeds United said: “Racism will not be tolerated by our club or by the vast majority of our community and fan base.
“We have worked closely with West Yorkshire Police and the British Transport Police in recent years, in an effort to reduce the number of arrests involving our supporters at our games in general.”
They stressed that they have made “great steps” towards improving their strategy in tackling racism, working with the Football Association (FA), English Football League (EFL) and anti-racism in football campaign, Kick It Out to do so.
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