Man United fan banned for mocking Hillsborough tragedy

LONDON – A Manchester United fan was fined and banned from attending football matches in the United Kingdom for four years on Monday, for wearing a replica shirt mocking the Hillsborough disaster.

Police received a number of complaints about James White’s shirt with the figure “97” and the words “Not Enough” on the back at the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium earlier in June.

It referred to the 97 fans of United’s arch-rivals Liverpool who were victims of a crush during an FA Cup semi-final match at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in April 1989.

White, 33, admitted a single charge of displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

“It is hard to imagine a more... offensive reference to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster,” judge Mark Jabbitt told him when he appeared in court in London for sentencing.

The judge fined White £1,000 (S$1,700) with a £400 victim surcharge and ordered him to pay £85 in court costs. He also banned him from attending football matches for four years.

United, meanwhile, have banned White indefinitely from Old Trafford and all club activities, calling the message on his shirt “despicable”.

“Mockery of Hillsborough and other football tragedies is completely unacceptable and the club will continue to support firm action to eradicate it from the game,” the club said.

Liverpool replied to United’s statement in a tweet, saying: “We stand together with @ManUtd. The mocking of football tragedies has to stop.”

United have been victims of disasters themselves, as 23 people, including eight United players, lost their lives in a plane crash in Munich in 1958, when the team were returning from a European Cup game.

White was arrested after photographs of him wearing the shirt were posted and shared online, prompting his arrest by police.

The court heard he told police the shirt was a reference to his grandfather, who died aged 97 and “didn’t have enough kids”.

Douglas Mackay from the Crown Prosecution Service said it was working closely with football authorities, police and clubs to stamp out the “appalling and horrendous incidents of tragedy chanting and gesturing”.

“We are sending a clear message that we call on so-called fans to stop this vile behaviour of a minority which has a terrible impact on the bereaved and communities,” he added.

“If they do not, then they face the risk of being excluded from the game they claim to love.”

Last week, a Tottenham fan was banned from attending football matches for three years for making gestures mocking the Hillsborough tragedy during a match at Liverpool’s ground in April.

The Premier League also promised to act after supporters of United and Leeds traded sickening chants about the 1958 Munich air disaster, and the death of two Leeds fans in Istanbul in 2000. AFP