Tottenham call on fans to 'move on' from using Y word | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 16, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025
Tottenham call on fans to 'move on' from using Y word

Sports

Reuters
10 February, 2022, 10:30 pm
Last modified: 10 February, 2022, 10:34 pm

Related News

  • UEFA issues apology after running out of medals at Europa League trophy presentation
  • Spurs beat United to win Europa League, end 17-year wait for silverware
  • They'll say we're not worthy, who cares, says Postecoglou after Tottenham reach Europa League final
  • Liverpool edge past West Ham as Salah sets record, Chelsea and Spurs falter
  • Haaland goal at Tottenham sends Man City fourth

Tottenham call on fans to 'move on' from using Y word

In a statement on Thursday, Tottenham said the continued use of the term went against its work to "create a welcoming environment that embraces all our fans."

Reuters
10 February, 2022, 10:30 pm
Last modified: 10 February, 2022, 10:34 pm
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur have called on its supporters to "move on" from using the word "Yid" after concluding a thorough review with fans' focus groups.

Many Tottenham fans chant the controversial word, a derogatory term for a Jewish person, at matches, arguing that it is a reaction to anti-Semitic abuse supporters of the north London club were once subjected to by opposition fans.

However, a survey of 23,000 fans in 2019 found that 94% of agreed that the use of the word could be considered racist.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Among the key findings of a further review completed in 2020 were that many fans remained uncomfortable with the word being used at matches and that younger fans were unaware of the term's meaning and historical context.

In a statement on Thursday, Tottenham said the continued use of the term went against its work to "create a welcoming environment that embraces all our fans."

"It is clear the use of this term does not always make this possible, regardless of context and intention, and that there is a growing desire and acknowledgment from supporters that the Y-word should be used less or stop being used altogether," the statement read.

"We recognise how these members of our fanbase feel and we also believe it is time to move on from associating this term with our Club.

"The adoption of the Y-word by our supporters from the late 1970s was a positive response to the lack of action taken by others around this issue. An increasing number of our fans now wish to see positive change again with the reduction of its use, something we welcome and shall look to support."

Tottenham said they already refrain from engaging with any social media that contains the word and do not permit it being printed on shirts in any official retail outlets.

While the club accepts that supporters have historically used the word as a means of "taking ownership" of an insult routinely used to insult its sizeable Jewish following, Jewish groups have branded it anti-Semitic, whatever the context.

In an interview in 2020 with Sky, writer and comedian David Baddiel, who made a film with his brother Ivor called 'The Y Word' for the Kick it Out campaign, said: "What it will weirdly give succour to is the sense that Tottenham fans, rather than Jews, 'own' the race-hate word for Jews..."

Tottenham said its supporters' use of the Y-word should never be cited as an excuse for the real evil that is anti-Semitism.

"Antisemitism remains a serious issue in football and more needs to be done to combat it," the club said.

"We believe that antisemitic abuse must be given the same zero tolerance that other forms of discriminatory behaviour receive. It should not be left to a minority in football to address and lead on this."

Football

Tottenham Hotspur / spurs

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infograph: TBS
    Ship congestion at Ctg port lingers as berthing time rises
  • BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
    BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
  • Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
    Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed

MOST VIEWED

  • Vehicles were seen stuck on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway due to a traffic jam stretching 15 kilometres on 14 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    15km traffic jam on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway as post-Eid rush continues
  • Tour operator Borsha Islam. Photo: Collected
    ‘Tour Expert’ admin Borsha Islam arrested over Bandarban tourist deaths
  • Infographic: TBS
    Chattogram Port proposes 70%-100% tariff hike
  • Fighter jet. Photo: AFP
    3 F-35 fighter jets downed, two Israeli pilots in custody, claims Iranian media
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Merger of 5 Islamic banks at final stage: BB governor
  • Infograph: TBS
    Why 10 economic zones, including BGMEA's garment park, were cancelled

Related News

  • UEFA issues apology after running out of medals at Europa League trophy presentation
  • Spurs beat United to win Europa League, end 17-year wait for silverware
  • They'll say we're not worthy, who cares, says Postecoglou after Tottenham reach Europa League final
  • Liverpool edge past West Ham as Salah sets record, Chelsea and Spurs falter
  • Haaland goal at Tottenham sends Man City fourth

Features

Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

13h | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

2d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

4d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

9h | TBS World
Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

9h | Others
Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

10h | TBS World
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

9h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net