THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland take on England in an international friendly in Dublin on 7th June but there’s already substantial concern that the fixture will be overshadowed by the behaviour of English fans.
On Tuesday, the majority of those supporting Roy Hodgson’s side were heard partaking in anti-IRA songs during a friendly with Italy in Turin. Afterwards, the England manager said:
“I love the fact that our fans come [and support in numbers] but there’s no way I can justify or be glad about any political chants of that nature. We can only hope we can put that right before we go to Ireland.’’
But it’s not going to be easy.
The Football Association has tried but failed to persuade England’s fans from partaking in such behaviour and today, the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) – a national organisation that represents fans in England and Wales – has admitted there’s little that can be done about fans engaging in the abusive chanting.
Racist and discriminatory chanting is illegal. The advice that we have received, however, is that anti-IRA and World War Two-related chanting does not fall foul of the law and would be unlikely to lead to successful prosecutions under the current legislation.”
It appears that there’s a general acceptance now that June’s clash between the Republic of Ireland and their near-neighbours will be marred by anti-IRA chanting, twenty years after England’s last game in Dublin was abandoned due to the visiting fans instigating a riot.
Such chanting has provided a consistently unsettling backdrop to England’s international fixtures so far this season.
Last November, during a friendly with Scotland at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, large sections of the English support sang ‘F**k the IRA’ during the first half of the game.
