Man United have released a brief statement regarding chanting from the away section at Anfield on Tuesday night relating to the Hillsborough disaster.
On a night when Liverpool supporters stood to pay their respects to United player Cristiano Ronaldo’s son, the visiting fans spent large sections of the second half singing songs mocking the Hillsborough disaster.
In a very brief, two-sentence statement almost 24 hours later, the Old Trafford club said:
“Manchester United stands in solidarity with Liverpool FC and its fans in remembering the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
“Offensive chants about the tragedy are completely unacceptable and we will work with our supporters’ groups to educate fans on the issue.”
This arrived days after Manchester City similarly released a statement after City fans disrupted a minute’s silence in memory of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough disaster at Wembley before the FA Cup semi-final.
City’s statement, like United’s, was just two sentences long – and in each case neither club have published the words on their own website or social media channels, only releasing it to briefed journalists.
Liverpool fans received widespread criticism for singing "Chelsea rent boys" and it was all over Sky Sports News, so far i haven't seen anything like that for what went on last night, I was at the match last night and haven't see Sky's coverage, was it mentioned?
— John Kelly* 1??9?? (@johnkellylfc) April 20, 2022
Liverpool supporters continue to be bemused by why clubs are quick to publicly condemn chants about homophobia, racism and other such societal issues, but songs about food poverty and mocking the deaths of 97 people at the biggest sporting disaster in British history do not get the same attention.
When Leicester City fans en-masse sang songs about Hillsborough and poverty, BBC Sports Gary Lineker claimed not to have heard it.
It’s about time something more was done, only time will tell if this is another token gesture from a club, or if United will actually “educate fans on the issue” as they claim they will.
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