CULTURE SECRETARY APOLOGISES
MP Hunt apologises for Hillsborough remarks

By Soccernet staff

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been forced to apologise after suggesting hooliganism played a part in the Hillborough disaster of 1989.

Ninety-six Liverpool fans were crushed to death during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's ground due to overcrowding.

Hunt made the remarks during an interview in which he was discussing the England fans who had travelled to support their team in South Africa.

He said: "I mean, not a single arrest for a football-related offence, and the terrible problems that we had in Heysel and Hillsborough in the 1980s seem now to be behind us."

Hunt quickly apologised and was said to be "horrified" by the way his remarks came out. But Margaret Aspinall, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, called Hunt's remarks "an absolute disgrace".

"After all these years of fighting for justice I am very angry that he has shown such ignorance of the facts," said Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the Hillsborough disaster.

On Monday the minister apologised for the remarks, saying: "I know that fan unrest played no part in the terrible events of April 1989.

"I apologise to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured in the Hillsborough disaster if my comments caused any offence," he added.

In the 1985 Heysel disaster, 39 people - mostly fans of Italian club Juventus - died when a stadium wall collapsed amid fighting between Italian supporters and Liverpool fans before the European Cup final in Brussels.