Millwall fined £15k for homophobic Chilwell chants

Millwall has been fined £15,000 for homophobic chants directed at Crystal Palace left-back Ben Chilwell during their FA Cup match in March.

According to ‘BBC’, the Championship club admitted the charges prior to a disciplinary hearing by an independent regulatory commission and has been given an extended anti-discriminatory action plan, which will remain in effect until the end of the 2025-26 season.

A statement from the Football Association noted that Millwall “failed to ensure its spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and don't use words or behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting way with either express or implied reference to sexual orientation.”

Crystal Palace defeated south-east London rivals Millwall 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth-round match at Selhurst Park.

In their statement, Millwall expressed that, through the action plan, the club will “continue to do all it can to proactively tackle discriminatory abuse”.

“The club reaffirms its zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination - such behaviour has no place in society and is entirely at odds with the values Millwall stands for,” they added.

The Lions faced charges from the FA in April for chants occurring in the fifth and 20th minutes of the game.

Ben Chilwell, a former England full-back on loan at Palace from Chelsea for the end of last season, was involved in plays during both incidents.

The regulatory commission identified that a “sufficient” number of individuals participated in the chanting, although none were specifically identified or faced direct action.

This incident was considered a second offence when determining Millwall's penalty, following a previous action plan in December 2023 for discriminatory chants by their supporters.

Nonetheless, the commission recognised that the previous action plan was largely “very effective” in fulfilling its intended purpose.

“Since the 2023 action plan was imposed the club has experienced no discriminatory chanting at home fixtures - save for the [Crystal Palace] match, the same can be said about the club's away fixtures,” the commission’s written reasons noted.