Used affectionately by supporters of Premier League club Tottenham but hurled back by rivals with venom, football chants featuring “Yid” have long been a source of ambiguity in England.
Now football leaders, striving to eradicate anti-Semitism at matches, have taken on the thorny issue.
Whatever the context, using the derogatory term for Jews in chants is not acceptable, and using it risks criminal prosecution, the English Football Association has ruled.
“The FA would encourage fans to avoid using it in any situation,” the organisation said in new guidelines published online.
In response, Tottenham announced on Wednesday it is launching a wide-scale consultation on how to deal with the issue.
Fans of Tottenham, which has traditionally drawn a large fan base from the Jewish communities in London, have been calling themselves the “Yid Army” for decades.
