The football club from London, which only refers to the term as the “Y word”, had commissioned a study on this. This revealed, among other things, that many “Spurs“Fans feel uncomfortable when the controversial word is heard at games. It has also been shown that many younger ‘Spurs’ supporters do not know the historical context, the club said.
“defense mechanism”
Tottenham Hotspur traditionally has a large Jewish fan base. Fans originally started using the “Y word” and calling themselves that 40 years ago. They wanted to counter the anti-Semitic chants of opposing football fans, who had previously used the same word as an insult.
“We have always emphasized that our fans have never used the word to intentionally offend”, announced the “Spurs”. Indeed it is “Defense mechanism against anti-Semitic insults that still exist”. Nevertheless be it “regardless of context and intention” at the time the word “to use less or to stop altogether”.
“Anti-Semitism remains a serious problem in football”
The term has been discussed for a number of years and, despite social developments and criticism from some football fans – including those from other clubs – fans at Tottenham games keep shouting and singing it loudly. However, the study showed that even “Spurs” supporters who actually wanted to continue using the term were willing to stop if other “Spurs” fans felt hurt by it.
“Anti-Semitism remains a serious problem in football”according to the club’s website, “and more needs to be done to combat it. We believe that anti-Semitic slurs should be met with zero tolerance, just like other forms of discriminatory behaviour. It should not be left to a minority in football to speak up and drive it forward.”
Source: dpa