Manchester United’s travelling support ignored the requests to refrain from singing their chant about Romelu Lukaku which has been described as “offensive and discriminatory.”
A song which references Lukaku’s penis has been condemned by anti-discrimination group Kick It Out after first coming to the organisation’s attention during the Red Devils’ Champions League group opener against Basel last week.
United were encouraged to ban the chant entirely and have reportedly been liaising with Kick It Out in recent days.
"The lyrics used in the chant are offensive and discriminatory" https://t.co/64bnDopkkv
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) September 20, 2017
“Kick It Out is aware of footage of alleged racist chanting by supporters of Manchester United that emerged on Wednesday evening,” a spokesperson for Kick It Out said on Tuesday.
“The lyrics used in the chant are offensive and discriminatory. Racist stereotypes are never acceptable in football or wider society, irrespective of any intention to show support for a player. We have contacted Manchester United regarding the issue and will be working closely with them and the FA to ensure that it is addressed swiftly. If we receive any reports relating to the discriminatory chant, those will be passed on to the governing body and the perpetrators can expect to face punishment.”
Jose Mourinho refused to offer his take on the matter during his pre-match press conference on Friday while former United midfielder Paul Ince insisted that it is not racist.
“I don’t think the chant is racist,” Ince told Paddy Power News.
“I honestly think it’s a group of fans that have got carried away and did not expect the backlash they have got. I’d say it’s just a bit of fun, that’s got out of control now.
“For a player to hear that sung about themselves, I do think they’d think it was amusing, a bit of a laugh.
Romelu: "Great backing since I joined #MUFC. Fans have meant well with their songs but let’s move on together. #RespectEachOther"
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 21, 2017
“If this chant was being sang at me when I was playing, I would just laugh it off and that would be it.
“Fans have sung chants for years and far worse than that in my time, though I suppose a lot of them would have never been heard because of social media.
“I don’t think Romelu Lukaku would say it was racist.”
On Saturday, United travelled to St Mary’s to take on Southampton and the fans in attendance didn’t take a blind bit of notice to the request for the song to be laid to rest.
After the Belgium international opened the scoring for the visitors, the Lukaku chant broke out in the stands with a defiant message at the end.
MUFC fans sing the Lukaku song they have been asked not to sing – followed by the chant of 'We're Man United, we'll sing what we want'
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceTel) September 23, 2017
