Arsenal investigating claims a Jewish fan was removed from a north London pub while being subjected to “disturbing” anti-Semitic abuse.
Comedian Katie Price, 26, went viral after detailing her horrific abuse on social media where she claims she was escorted out by staff at the Cally Pub in Caledonian Road after being called a “dirty f***ing y*d” during the north London Derby victory over Tottenham.
She said that five men rounded on her and pulled at her Arsenal shirt when they found out she was Jewish after she objected to chants containing the anti-Semitic slur “Y*d”.
The Cally patrons chanted “Off you go” and “Y*ddo go home” as she was led out of the pub, Ms Price said.
Arsenal Football Club said on Wednesday they were made aware of two “disturbing incidents” over the weekend including one of our fans overhearing grossly offensive anti-Semitic statements made by another Arsenal fan at the Tottenham Stadium.
The comedian released a statement through a friend on Twitter on Monday, saying: “Some friends and I went to The Cally to watch the North London Derby. An Arsenal pub in an Arsenal area, wearing our Arsenal shirts and cheering throughout for Arsenal. At around the 89th minute, a group of men behind us start chanting ‘we hate Tottenham’ and we all join in.
“They end the chant by repeatedly chanting the slur ‘Y*ddo’, which, as a Jew is incredibly offensive. My friends and I heard but ignored, rising above it. Two minutes later, more start joining in with the chant.
“I turn around to the instigator, say ‘look, mate, no need to say that last bit’ and walk back to my friends and the remaining 3 minutes of the game. He then comes up to me, questioning why I said that. I tell him I’m Jewish and that’s an offensive racial slur.
“His friend then comes up to me, looks me in the eyes and says ‘you dirty fucking y*d’. I push him away and tell him that he can’t say that. The men come at my friend, pulling my (arsenal) shirt, repeatedly threatening to “beat us both up”, that I was a dirty y*d Tottenham fan and that my male friend should ‘take his girl out of his pub’.
“They are five older men attacking a 26-year-old Jewish woman and her friend, being incredibly hostile. I take myself to the other side of the pub to calm down and gesture to them to leave us alone -we’ll watch the last seconds of the game and leave on our own terms.
“The manager of the pub then comes up to my friends and asks us to leave. We leave to chants of ‘Off you go’ and ‘Y*ddo go home’.”
She added: “The pub chose to remove me, putting me in an even more vulnerable position and protecting those who attacked me. I spend so much of my time explaining how football can be an opportunity to unite people but
“Yesterday I was let down. Let down by The Cally, let down by the forty other people in that pub who stood by, many of whom joined in with the group’s chants of ‘y*ddo go home’. Let down by my own fans, who are supposed to stick together, united by our love of football.”
She finished: “Please, don’t ever let that chant go unpunished, call it out when you see it and report it to the staff or authorities.”
Staff at The Cally pub said they had no comment ahead of the results of any investigation when approached by The Standard.
An Arsenal statement read: “There was an incident at the North London derby on Sunday involving Arsenal supporters in which one of our fans overheard grossly offensive anti-semitic statements made by another Arsenal fan. On the same afternoon, we were appalled to hear of an incident at The Cally pub in Islington, involving other anti-semitic chants.
“We recognise the impact this behaviour has on our many Jewish supporters and others and condemn the use of language of this nature, which has no place in our game or society.
“Arsenal must be a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, and we want to be clear that any kind of discriminatory abuse is not welcome at our club. We will not stand for this kind of behaviour and will take strong action against any supporters who we establish are responsible for such acts. Anyone identified will receive a lengthy club ban and their details will be passed to the police to commence legal proceedings.
“If any of our supporters witness any form of discriminatory behaviour, we urge them to report the incident to the police. If inside our stadium, report to a matchday steward or use our ‘See Something, Say Something’ service by texting “FOUL” to 67777 together with a description of the incident and the location within the stadium. This enables supporters to report an incident safely and for us to act as quickly as possible.”
