February 7 – In the latest crackdown on resurging racial abuse, all 20 English Premier League clubs have agreed to extend any bans on fans watching their team at home to the entire league.
In a united stand, the clubs agreed that any supporter sanctioned for “discriminatory, abusive or violent acts” will be barred from all stadiums, not just one.
“Following recent events, the 20 clubs committed to introducing a League-wide ban for anyone banned by their club for discriminatory, abusive or violent acts,” the Premier League said in a statement.
“Unacceptable conduct towards players, fans, club employees or referees will not be tolerated by the Premier League or its clubs.”
The length of the ban will be determined by the club where the incident occurred, and mirrored by the rest of the division.
The announcement of the unprecedented deterrant came on the day Bournemouth handed a 17-year-old supporter a lifetime ban after he pleaded guilty to chanting racist abuse during a league match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November.
Last month the home of Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was attacked by a group of fans angry at the way their club is being run. They chanted that Woodward, who was not at home at the time, was “going to die”.
Some United fans sang the same song during two recent games.
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