Chelsea supporters were heard singing disgusting songs about the Hillsborough Stadium disaster during their Premier League game against Liverpool on Tuesday night.
The Blues hosted Jurgen Klopp’s side in a 8pm kick-off in West London, with the scores level at 0-0 at the half-time break. But the action on the pitch was marred by vile chants from a section of the home fans at Stamford Bridge. Fans could be heard shouting “always the victims” and “murderers” towards the Liverpool supporters.
Chelsea released a statement after the match which read: "Chelsea FC condemns the inappropriate chants heard from some home fans during this evening’s game. Hateful chanting has no place in football and we apologise to anyone who has been offended by them."
Liverpool added: We know the impact these vile chants have on those who continue to suffer as a result of football tragedies. For their sake, this has to stop."
In a statement to Mirror Football, the Premier League said: "The Premier League condemns the tragedy chanting heard at tonight’s match between Chelsea and Liverpool. We continue to treat this as an unacceptable issue and are seeking to address it as a priority.”
Sadly, this is not the first time that Liverpool have been targeted by rival supporters. Their 4-1 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday was followed by a statement from City in which they said they were “disappointed” that some of their fans had used “inappropriate chants”.
The statement read: "Manchester City FC are disappointed to have heard inappropriate chants from home fans during today's game. We regret any offence these chants may have caused and will continue to work with supporters groups and officials from both clubs to eradicate hateful chanting from this fixture."
There were similar issues back in October in the Premier League meeting between Liverpool and City at Anfield. That incident prompted both clubs to take the rare step of issuing a joint statement ahead the EFL Cup tie between the sides in December, calling on fans of both sides to root out the "unacceptable behaviour" which has blighted recent meetings between the pair, and was signed by City chief Ferran Soriano and Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan.
The Premier League has formed working group with the division's clubs, the FA, EFL and the Football Supporters Association to try and tackle the issue of tragedy chanting at matches following a spate of incidents this season.
Ninety-seven people lost their lives during the Hillsborough Stadium disaster. The tragedy happened at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium on April 15, 1989.
After a decades-long legal battle, the High Court quashed the original verdict of accidental death and eventually returned a verdict of unlawful killing.
