Izuchukwu OkosiPremier League champions Manchester City have vowed to take strict actions after a “small number of individuals” were heard singing offensive chants following the death of Sir Bobby Charlton on Saturday.
The Manchester United and England legend was aged 86.
City have condemned the chants, which were heard in some Etihad Stadium concourses during their game against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
The club say they are “extremely disappointed” by the reports.
A statement from Manchester City on the fans’ behaviour read:
“Manchester City FC are extremely disappointed to have learned of reports of offensive chanting from a small number of individuals about Sir Bobby Charlton in some of the concourses of Etihad Stadium during half-time of yesterday’s Premier League fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion.
“The club condemns these chants in the strongest terms and apologises unreservedly to the family and friends of Sir Bobby, and to all those at Manchester United.
“On this day of all days, when the stadium stood to pay tribute to our own legend in Francis Lee, Manchester City supporters should understand and appreciate as keenly as anyone the need for respect in our game.
“Our security team are studying CCTV footage of the concourse areas. We are thankful to those who have already come forward to report this matter.
“We continue to appeal for any information that can help us identify the individuals involved so that we can take the appropriate action to issue banning orders.”
United’s next home Premier League game will be the Manchester derby against City on Sunday 29 October.
In a statement, the Premier League said it was “appalled” to hear about the reports of chanting.
“We welcome Manchester City seeking information on those responsible and will support any subsequent action,” they said.
Man City are currently atop the Premier League table with 21 points, only above Arsenal on goal difference.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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