Irish football fans criticized for Queen Elizabeth chants
Fans of Irish football team Shamrock Rovers have been denounced by the club and social media onlookers after they celebrated the death of Queen Elizabeth II during a Europa Conference League match against Swedish rivals Djurgardens.
Shamrock fans were filmed making the chant in the stands of the Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night, in footage seen more than 4 million times online.
The supporters were slammed by some social media users, and have been criticized by their Dublin-based club for "highly insensitive and callous chanting."
"Shamrock Rovers FC has been made aware of chants by a group of individuals at last night's game. Such highly insensitive and callous chanting is not acceptable at our club and is against the values that Shamrock Rovers FC stands for," read a statement shared by the Daily Mail.
"Our ground regulations issued on match tickets and on signage at entry strictly prohibits such activity. This is also announced over the PA system before all of our games in Tallaght Stadium," it continued.
The messaged added that Shamrock Rovers "welcomes all supporters to its grounds and condemns any form of bigotry and discrimination in soccer" and does not "condone hostile abuse of individual players, spectators, or officials based on ethnic or cultural background, nationality, or religious affiliation."
"Those found to be involved in any such behavior will face ejection from the ground and will be reported to the Gardai," the club vowed, in reference to Irish police.
On Twitter, the fans were labeled "disgraceful" by some people, and were told that it "takes a certain type of person to celebrate the death of an elderly lady".
"Wow, I cannot comprehend what sick minds it takes to sing this," was another criticism.
This weekend, all football in Northern Ireland and in England from the Premier League to grassroots level, has been canceled as a mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth, who passed away aged 96 on Thursday.
Ahead of their European match on Thursday night, which went ahead after consultation with UEFA and the FA, fans of London club West Ham were seen singing 'God Save the Queen' before their meeting with Romanian team FCSB.
To his 477 million followers on Instagram, football icon Cristiano Ronaldo posted a black and white portrait of the Queen and noted that seven years of his career have been played in the Premier League, making this his eighth season living in England.
"Throughout these years, I’ve felt the everlasting love of the UK for its Queen, and how important Her Majesty was and will forever be to the British people," the Portuguese revealed, before paying his respects to her memory and adding that he was mourning "this irreplaceable loss with the country that I’ve learned to call home".
"My thoughts and prayers are with the Royal Family," the five-time Ballon d'Or winner concluded.
