Hungarian Jews demand end to racist chants

Representatives of Hungary's Jewish community asked soccer officials on Tuesday to take action after anti-Semitic slurs were chanted during a league game. Ujpest FC fans made the offensive remarks on Saturday during their team's 2-0 victory over MTK Budapest, a club founded by and still identified with Hungarian Jews. "Hungary, which aspires to host the European championships, cannot allow even one such instance to remain without consequences, because this could cause them to be repeated and grow worse," said a letter sent to the Hungarian Football Federation by the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities. Ujpest officials condemned the racist slurs, saying they were made by "one or two unrestrained people ... whose actions shock and infuriate every honorable person." Ujpest, which also criticized MTK fans for responding by calling Ujpest supporters Nazis, said it would ban anyone proven to have made the anti-Semitic remarks. MTK blamed the referee for failing to act when Ujpest supporters called opposing fans "filthy Jews." The federation's disciplinary committee was expected to review the incident later Tuesday.
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