So it turns out that the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FA) the official body that controls football in the UK does have a set of balls after all ….. albeit small ones. They have just fined the first club Wolverhampton Wanderers, better known as Wolves, for homophobic chanting. The team received a £100,000 (about $125000) sanction from the Football Association (FA), who also imposed an 11-point action plan for the club, which must be implemented for the entirety of the 2023/24 season.The incident occurred during a match on April 8, which saw Wolves record a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. During the game in the Molineux Stadium, a “large number of supporters” of the home side were twice heard shouting the infamous “Chelsea rent boy” chant for “a prolonged period of approximately 20 seconds each in the 61st and also in the 71st minutes”. Three spectators were arrested by West Midlands Police, and the case was referred to an independent commission, which ultimately handed out the fine.
Wolves accepted breaches of FA rule E21 and admitted to failing to ensure its fans didn’t “behave in a way which is improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting with either express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.
In the UK professional sports…… especially football …..are the last major bastion of homophobia and it actually has been described as a taboo subject by both players and the media. So hard to believe that in 2023 there is actually only one openly gay male footballer in England’s top four men’s divisions, Jake Daniels, a forward for Blackpool F.C.
Most of us have never forgotten Justin Fashanu, the first black £1 million footballer, who in 1990 became the first footballer to be openly gay, and who would end up taking his own life This new Fine is a very tiny step in the right direction but we more, and we need them now.
Labels: 2023, fine, first ever, homophobia, UK Football Association, Wolves
