Not sure if this has been mentioned on this forum but I read that Cardiff had been sanctioned and fined £15k and thought I’d give it a read to see if there may be a points deduction (although the incident occurred during a cup match)
Which one of you lot were in the Canton stand at the Chelsea game?
The FA versus Cardiff City
(1) The charge.
5. By charge letter dated 16 February 20261 The Football Association (“The FA”) alleged that
Cardiff City FC (“Cardiff”) during the EFL Cup match against Chelsea FC (“Chelsea”) on 16
December 2025 (“the match”) failed to ensure spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to
be its supporters or followers) conducted themselves in an orderly fashion whilst attending the match.
6. Accordingly, The FA charged Cardiff with:
i. Failing on 16 December 2025 to ensure that its spectators and/or supporters (and anyone
purporting to be its supporters or followers) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion whilst
attending the match and do not use words or otherwise behave in a way which is improper,
offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting which included a reference, whether express or implied,
to sexual orientation contrary to rule E21.1 of the Rules of the Football Association ;
ii. In addition, The FA alleged that the words and/or behaviour made reference to sexual orientation
contrary to FA rule E21.4.
7. Cardiff admitted the charge by letter dated 19 February 20262 and requested a personal hearing.
(2) The facts.
8. The relevant facts3 as to these charges are :
i. A post-match social media post was issued on the “X” platform at 8:25pm on 16
1 Page 4 of the case bundle.
2 Page 84 of the case bundle.
3 This summary is extracted from the various factual witness statements or other documentary material within the
case bundle.
2December 2025 by the “Chelsea Pride”4 organisation identifying homophobic chanting by
Cardiff supporters “1 minute and 30 seconds” into the match;
ii. The post was to the effect that the offensive chanting by Cardiff supporters was the chant
"Chelsea rent boy" then repeated by a very significant number of Cardiff fans;
iii. Video footage of the relevant incident demonstrates that in the 2nd minutes of the match, chanting
can be heard from the crowd in the terms “Chelsea Rent Boy, woah woah.” This is followed by
a chant of “Chelsea Rent Boy, Chelsea Rent Boy, woah woah,” which is then repeated once
more;
iv. It appears that officials and/or staff of Cardiff became aware of the homophobic chanting as it
occurred during the match. The response filed by Cardiff to this misconduct charge states5 :
a. “I became aware very early on in the game that Wayne Nash6 had heard the chant and
reported it to me. I had not heard it. The Club responded through internal messaging and
the deployment of police officers to the area where it was believed the chant had come from
(the lower part of the Canton Stand). I was made aware that around 5 or less had taken
part in the chanting over a few seconds. There was no further chanting of this throughout
the rest of the match.”;
v. It appears therefore that safety/security officials and/or staff of Cardiff became aware of the
homophobic chanting at the time it occurred;
vi. Cardiff contend that police and stewards were then positioned in front of the relevant stand. It
appears this presence led to an improvement of crowd behaviour with no repeat of the offensive
chanting.