Chelsea hope to reinstall a banner for the club’s Israeli supporters’ group for Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup game against Blackburn Rovers – but it will not feature the Star of David.
As exclusively revealed by Telegraph Sport, the Chelsea Israeli Supporters’ Club were told that they could no longer display the Star of David inside Stamford Bridge, a decision they branded “anti-Semitic”, after having their original banner that had been up for eight years taken down.
Chelsea insist the decision was essentially made for them by the security advice issued to clubs by the Premier League and that the club specifically checked on whether or not the Star of David fell under those guidelines.
The Premier League maintains that the removal of the group’s original banner and decision not to allow a new banner to feature the Star of David was at Chelsea’s discretion.
It is understood that the guidelines issued to clubs by the League advised that Israeli and Palestine flags should not be permitted inside stadiums and that, at the clubs’ discretion, the same approach should be applied to other items that are readily recognisable as pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian.
The Star of David features on the Israeli flag, but is traditionally recognised as a symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism, independent of the Israel flag.
The Chelsea Israeli Supporters’ Club’s original banner featured blue and white lines and two Star of Davids, and sat next to a banner of Chelsea’s Supporters’ Club of Pakistan, which displays the Crescent and Star symbol of the Islamic faith.
The new banner will simply carry the words ‘Chelsea Israeli Supporters Club’ along with the club’s lion crest. The club paid for the new banner and it was sent to the printers on Tuesday morning in the hope of having it ready to display at Wednesday night’s game.
Arsenal’s Jewish Gooners group display a banner inside the Emirates Stadium that includes the Star of David symbol, which has not been removed by the club or the League.
Chelsea’s Israeli Supporters’ Club had asked if they could reinstall their original banner for the Blackburn game, because it is not a Premier League competition, but have now agreed for the new banner, without the Star of David, to be put up.
The new banner was designed by the Israeli group after they were told it could not feature the Star of David and Yarin Levi, secretary of the Chelsea Israeli Supporters’ Club, said: “We’re really happy that our banner should be back up in time for the Blackburn game.
“Whilst we’re disappointed that the Premier League guidance included not having the Star of David, we’re grateful for all the help Chelsea FC have offered during this awful time.
“We’re pleased that we will continue to be represented in the stadium, at the club we love, and we believe that the presence of our banner is important for Jewish and Israeli Chelsea fans worldwide.
“We look forward to the Premier League guidance being lifted, and our original banner being back in place.”
