West Ham Address Offensive Chant Ahead of Home Game

West Ham United have moved quickly to confront an “offensive and divisive” chant sung by a section of their supporters, urging fans to drop what the club describes as a song “containing an anti-Palestine message” before the Championship season properly settles in at the London Stadium.

The club issued a lengthy statement on Thursday, four days after the chant was heard during West Ham’s opening fixture away at Burnley. The wording was blunt: this is not who we are, and it cannot continue.

One of the key flashpoints is the arrival of Israel winger Manor Solomon, a summer signing from Tottenham Hotspur on a three-year deal. His transfer has already stirred debate across parts of the fanbase, and the club is now trying to draw a clear line between passionate backing and political or discriminatory chanting.

“We encourage our supporters to sing loud and proud about their football club and the players wearing the claret and blue shirt — but never in a way that creates division or causes offence among fellow fans,” West Ham said, stressing that the message was a reminder of “the responsibility we all hold to represent the club in the right way”.

The timing is deliberate. West Ham, relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season and now rebuilding in England’s second tier, host Charlton Athletic at the London Stadium on Saturday in their first home game since the drop.

The club want the stadium noisy, hostile for the opposition, united behind a new campaign. What they do not want is the season’s home debut overshadowed by a chant that has already forced them to step in.