FA fines Cardiff City £15,000 for homophobic chants at Chelsea match
Cardiff City, who secured promotion from League One to the Championship this season, have been fined £15,000 by the Football Association following homophobic chants directed at Chelsea fans.
The incident occurred during an EFL Cup quarter-final match held at Cardiff City Stadium on 16 December, where Premier League side Chelsea defeated League One Cardiff 3-1.
Cardiff City have confirmed they received an "action plan" from the FA in response to the abusive, offensive, homophobic, and discriminatory chant that took place in the second minute of the fixture.
A club spokesman stated that while Cardiff acknowledges the charge and accepts the incident occurred, they intend to appeal the fine, which they consider "excessive." The club plans to submit evidence demonstrating that they took all reasonable steps to educate and inform supporters and acted promptly on the night by removing individuals involved and displaying messages on the big screen.
Club response and FA disciplinary action
The FA has charged Cardiff over the alleged homophobic chants aimed at Chelsea supporters, following the match where Garnacho scored twice to send Chelsea into the EFL Cup semi-finals.
In an official statement, the club said:
"The chant is defined as a homophobic slur and was made a prosecutable offence for anyone found to sing or use the words by the Crown Prosecution Service in January 2022. The Football Association considers this specific chant a breach of FA Rules (rule E21) and has thus pursued formal disciplinary action the club.
The imposed action plan remains active until the conclusion of the 2026-27 season and will include the development of existing initiatives in respect of awareness and accountability.
The club acknowledges the sanction. Cardiff City Football Club has a zero-tolerance policy to all forms of discrimination and will continue to work with the police and governing bodies to eradicate the scourge from our game and society."
Cardiff City emphasized their commitment to combating discrimination and stated they will continue collaborating with authorities and football governing bodies to eliminate such behavior from the sport and wider community.
