Fan charged for offensive jersey at FA Cup final referring to tragedy

London’s Metropolitan Police mentioned on Sunday {that a} soccer fan has been charged with carrying an offensive jersey to the FA Cup final that referenced the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium catastrophe the place 97 Liverpool followers died.

James White, 33, of Warwickshire, will seem in court docket June 19 on a cost of displaying threatening or abusive writing possible to trigger harassment, alarm or misery.

A photograph retweeted by police after Saturday’s match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium confirmed a person carrying a United shirt with the No. 97 on the again and the phrases “Not Enough.”

The English Football Association (FA) mentioned that it noticed the offensive shirt on social media and safety tracked down the person carrying it, main to his arrest.

“We will not tolerate abuse relating to Hillsborough or any football tragedy at Wembley Stadium and we will continue to work with the authorities to ensure strong action is taken against perpetrators,” the FA mentioned in an announcement.

The Hillsborough tragedy and different disasters within the sport proceed to echo in soccer stadiums for the fallacious causes in what the Premier League has condemned as “tragedy chanting.”

Two months in the past, Chelsea apologised for its followers who taunted Liverpool guests in chants that referred to Hillsborough. Just a few days earlier, City had apologized to Liverpool for comparable hateful choruses.

In March, Liverpool and United collectively appealed to followers to finish hateful chants earlier than their match in Liverpool.

United suffered a 2-1 defeat in Saturday’s FA Cup final towards City after two very good strikes from Ilkay Gundogan.

More than 20 individuals have been arrested at the match for assault, drug possession and drunk and disorderly conduct, police mentioned.