FA Cup final: James White, 33, charged after wearing shirt appearing to refer to Hillsborough disaster

Police made an arrest over an offensive shirt which was worn by a man at Wembley Stadium
Fans make way to Wembley StadiumFans make way to Wembley Stadium
Fans make way to Wembley Stadium

A man has been charged after he was seen wearing a football shirt at Wembley which appeared to make an offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster.

James White, 33, of Warwickshire, was charged on Sunday with displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, Scotland Yard said.

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The Metropolitan Police Events Twitter account retweeted a picture on Saturday of a man wearing a Manchester United shirt that had the number 97 on the back and the words “Not Enough”.

Sharing a tweet posted by an account called Liverpool Photos, the Met’s events Twitter account said: “We are aware of this and have worked proactively with officials at @wembleystadium to identify the individual. He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody.”

He was bailed to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 19 June.

What has the FA said?

On Sunday (4 June), the FA said in a statement: “The FA strongly condemns the actions of the individual who wore a shirt referencing the Hillsborough disaster ahead of the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

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“We saw a photograph of the offensive shirt on social media and immediately started working to identify the perpetrator.

“Our security team were able to quickly locate the individual based on the image, and we welcome the swift action which was then taken by the police.

“We will not tolerate abuse relating to Hillsborough or any football tragedy at Wembley Stadium and we will continue to work with the authorities to ensure strong action is taken against perpetrators.”

Ninety-seven football fans died as a result of a crush at a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on 15 April, 1989.

They were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors, an inquest jury ruled in 2016.