Tottenham is "facing fresh calls to clamp down" on fans using the word "yid" after a series of Jewish organizations "condemned the common usage slur at football grounds," according to Jack Pitt-Brooke of the London INDEPENDENT. The Community Security Trust, the Jewish Leadership Council and Action Against Discrimination said that they want Spurs to "change their stance on the issue," following Friday’s statement from World Jewish Congress and the Board of Deputies of British Jews calling on Tottenham to "take a stand" against its own supporters using the word. Tottenham said that it has a "zero-tolerance position" regarding antisemitism, but insisted its fans' use of that word has never been "intended to cause offence." Fresh attention "has turned to the prevalence" of the word "yid" in English football. The word, "a derogatory antisemitic slur, has long been adopted by Tottenham fans, in recognition of the club’s Jewish heritage." Tottenham Hotspur has "traditionally defended" the right of all of its fans, Jewish and non-Jewish, to do this and to reclaim the word as a "badge of honour" (INDEPENDENT, 1/7).
'ZERO TOLERANCE': In London, Tom Morgan reported Scotland Yard officers "will issue a zero tolerance warning to Chelsea and Tottenham fans amid heightened checks" for antisemitic chanting during Tuesday's English Football League Cup semifinal. Police "are understood to be fully supportive of Chelsea's plan to take their own stewards to Wembley," having vowed to eject any supporters heard chanting anti-Jewish or racist sentiment. The level of security and policing provided by Tottenham and Wembley "was already due to be higher than usual, as it is a category A fixture" (TELEGRAPH, 1/7).
