The Football Association have reportedly opened an investigation into Millwall for alleged chants from their fans that emerged during their FA Cup tie with Crystal Palace on Saturday. Their probe is said to be related to homophobic chants directed at Palace defender Ben Chilwell, with Millwall fans allegedly heard signing ‘Chelsea rent boy, Chelsea rent boy, oohh oohhh’ at the England international.
The Daily Mail report that the FA ‘will be investigating’ the chants aimed at Chilwell, who completed his first 90 minutes for the south London club since his arrival. The 28-year-old joined on loan from Chelsea during the winter transfer window in January and the Blues have a long track record of being subjected to the same anti-LGBT chants by opposition fans. It appears Millwall could have landed themselves in hot water due to their fans’ behaviour during the feisty London derby. However, separate chants aimed at Jean-Philippe Mateta are set to go unpunished.
Chants emerged from the away end early in the first half where Millwall fans appeared to sing ‘let him die’, moments after Mateta suffered a serious injury during a collision with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts. The 30-year-old was sent off by referee Michael Oliver just eight minutes into the game as Mateta received treatment on the pitch, having been caught in the face by Roberts’ boot. Medics eventually carried the Frenchman off on a stretchered while he received oxygen, and he was taken to hospital via ambulance.
Palace fans were heard copying Millwall’s chants when Millwall’s Camiel Neghli got injured later in the game. Despite those chants being easily audible for spectators in the ground and watching on TV, both clubs will escape punishment for their fans’ behaviour in relation to that particular chant. According to the Daily Mail, the ‘die’ chant will not be probed by the FA as it ‘does not breach regulations.’
Before that, Millwall fans in the away end appeared to target Mateta with a sickening chant while he was motionless on the floor, loudly singing: “Let him die, let him die, let him die.”
The chant was strongly condemned by BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce, who said the Lions fans had done nothing to ‘endear themselves’ with their song about the stricken Palace forward and suggested they could be investigated.
“Millwall fans are not endearing themselves with anyone with those chants about Mateta,” Pearce said during the live broadcast. “The football club could be revisited about that.”
Mateta’s injury and the subsequent chants cast a dark shadow on an entertaining FA Cup tie, with Palace advancing into the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over 10-man Millwall.
A Japhet Tanganga own goal opened the scoring on 33 minutes before Daniel Munoz doubled the Eagles’ lead following a VAR intervention to overturn the on-field decision of offside and award the goal.
Wes Harding pulled a goal back for Millwall in the 13th minute of first-half added time. But substitute Eddie Nketiah, who replaced Mateta following his injury, wrapped up Palace’s victory late in the second half with a fine header.
