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23rd September 2017
04:30pm BST
"The lyrics used in the chant are offensive and discriminatory. Racist stereotypes are never acceptable in football or wider society, irrespective of any intention to show support for a player. We have contacted Manchester United regarding the issue and will be working closely with them and the FA to ensure that it is addressed swiftly. If we receive any reports relating to the discriminatory chant, those will be passed on to the governing body and the perpetrators can expect to face punishment."Jose Mourinho refused to offer his take on the matter during his pre-match press conference on Friday while former United midfielder Paul Ince insisted that it is not racist. "I don’t think the chant is racist," Ince told Paddy Power News. "I honestly think it’s a group of fans that have got carried away and did not expect the backlash they have got. I’d say it’s just a bit of fun, that’s got out of control now. "For a player to hear that sung about themselves, I do think they’d think it was amusing, a bit of a laugh. https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/910896413537644551 "If this chant was being sang at me when I was playing, I would just laugh it off and that would be it. "Fans have sung chants for years and far worse than that in my time, though I suppose a lot of them would have never been heard because of social media. "I don’t think Romelu Lukaku would say it was racist." On Saturday, United travelled to St Mary's to take on Southampton and the fans in attendance didn't take a blind bit of notice to the request for the song to be laid to rest. After the Belgium international opened the scoring for the visitors, the Lukaku chant broke out in the stands with a defiant message at the end. https://twitter.com/SamWallaceTel/status/911597723048128513
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