HULL, England — Hull City has announced that several arrests were made due to discriminatory chanting during their 4-0 FA Cup fourth round loss to Chelsea.
Late in the first half, a public address announcement declared that there had been “discriminatory chanting inside the stadium” and warned, “We are using CCTV to gather evidence. Any individuals identified as participating in criminal activity will be ejected and reported to the police.”
About an hour into the match, a subsequent announcement informed fans that “action has been taken tonight, including arrests.”
A chant of “Chelsea rent boy” was heard from some of the home supporters at MKM Stadium earlier in the match.
In January 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service officially designated “rent boy” as an anti-gay slur, qualifying it as a hate crime. Individuals using this term could face prosecution under hate crime legislation.
After the game, Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior commented: “Any form of discriminatory language is unacceptable, and I hope it is properly addressed. The fourth official mentioned something to me, but my focus was entirely on the match, so I’m not fully aware of the situation.”
Chelsea secured their victory with a hat trick from Pedro Neto and a goal from Brazilian winger Estêvão.