Leeds City wants Jimmy Savile-related songs to be treated as tragic chants by the Crown Prosecution Service as it continues its efforts to stamp them out at Elland Road.
Leeds want Jimmy Savile song treated by CPS as tragic anthem
Leeds have called on the Crown Prosecution Service and football authorities to take a tougher stance on chants relating to Jimmy Savile as a public order offence.
A Yorkshire group believes a song about Savile, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders, should be treated as a “tragedy song”. Saville passed away in 2011, but his name has been sung by both home and away fans at Elland Road ever since.
Leeds’ FA Cup win over Norwich City last weekend saw supporters of both teams sing praises for Saville throughout the season. Savile was born in Leeds and lived most of his life there.
The CPS outlines tragedy chants as “tragedy-related abuse”, which refers to fatal accidents or stadium disasters involving fans, players or personnel from rival clubs. Events that fall into this category include the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters, the Munich plane crash and the death of a Leeds fan in Istanbul in 2000.
However, Savile’s chants are not currently covered by the law as they are not related to football. Three years ago, the CPS imposed tougher laws on tragic chants, saying they could be prosecuted as public order offenses and could result in supporters being banned.
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Leeds want the law to be expanded to include chants related to Savile, and The Athletic insists that both away fans and home supporters should be punished by law if such behavior continues.
A spokesperson said: “Leeds United Football Club has lobbied for, and fully supports, the Jimmy Savile chants being classed as tragic chants and hate crimes. The club’s supporters are subjected to such disgusting jeers from opposing fans at every match, but it should not be happening in today’s games and it is a disgrace to the victims of Jimmy Savile’s abuse.”
Premier League club says it condemns chants from both home and away fans
“Equally, the club does not condone retaliatory chants by supporters. The club is pleased that this is finally being brought to the fore by the media and, with the support of the relevant governing bodies, hopes that this will be a first step towards stamping out such chants.”
The FA said through a spokesperson: “This is unacceptable and has the potential to have a lasting and harmful impact on people and communities within our game. And we support all clubs and their fans in eradicating this behavior from their terraces.”
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