Jürgen Klopp urges fans to ‘show class’ after Old Trafford tragedy chanting
Jürgen Klopp has appealed for fans to “show a bit of class” at Old Trafford on Sunday in response to the tragedy chanting that marred Manchester United’s recent FA Cup win over Liverpool.
Two United supporters were arrested on suspicion of tragedy chanting after their team’s thrilling 4-3 victory last month. The Football Association issued a statement condemning the chants that emanated from the Stretford End before and during the game.
With the fierce rivals meeting again in the Premier League, Klopp has made another attempt to address tragedy-related abuse in the fixture. The Liverpool manager and his United counterpart, Erik ten Hag, issued a joint statement last season calling for an end to chanting about Hillsborough, Heysel and Munich. The two clubs’ charity foundations have also come together to deliver an education programme to schoolchildren on the impact of tragedy-related abuse.
“I think it is super important,” said Klopp as he prepared for the return to Old Trafford. “There are different aspects but one aspect is that I don’t hear it, honestly, when I am on the sideline but I get told it happens and that is obviously not great. But in general it is just helpful that we educate our kids in specific things: respect, understanding, all these kinds of things.
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“I just see two of the biggest clubs in the world, so let’s just show a bit of class in these moments. Don’t sing this or sing that. Just show class, let the teams fight on the pitch, let’s play football; that is all fine. Besides that, just show a bit of class, that would be my wish for all of us.”