New EU rules are set to send shock waves through the football terraces of the UK.
According to sources close to the FA, the European Parliament’s Fair Trade Advocacy Office in conjunction with the Advertising Standards Authority are to push through new rules regarding the Great British football chant.
This move is set to come into force before the UK leaves the EU and will be very difficult to counter as it was tabled before Article 50 was triggered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the 29th of March 2017.
The EU FTAO has deemed that as significant numbers of voices chant in unison in support of their preferred team this constitutes an unfair advantage to the players and will be applied only to the home team at a league match or to both teams when a match is played at a neutral ground such as Wembley for a cup final or other such occasion. It is not yet clear whether the rule will apply to international matches.
Although the wording is as yet unclear, it is thought that from the beginning of the 20017/20018 season our well known football chants may sound something like this:
Suggested alternatives in brackets
“And it’s Ar-se-nal, Arsenal FC. We’re by far the greatest team (in our opinion) the world has ever seen (poor form this season notwithstanding)”
and
“L. I. V. E. R. P. Double O L Liverpool FC (other teams are available)”
or
“I’m Leicester till I die, I’m Leicester till I die, I know I am, I’m sure I am, I’m Leicester till I die (although I’ve always quite liked Man Utd).”
More on this as it unfolds.
