Liverpool FC Forum

[Igor Zidane]

Courtesy of 4POOL ON RAWK.




This notice is for any Liverpool supporter in North America or Worldwide:


OFFICIAL BOYCOTT NOTICE BY NORTH AMERICAN LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB BRANCHES OF:

Jack The Lad

Press Display

PSG Sports

Ruffneck Wear

Sporting Glory

The Fix by author Declan Hill

VIP Communications





We are asking for your support in the boycotting of the advertisers of Mr. Steven Cohen and his shows. Those being World Soccer Daily on Sirius Satellite and Fox Football Fone-in on the Fox Soccer Channel.

You are probably aware that this action is being taken due to the recent remarks by Mr. Cohen concerning the Hillsborough tragedy whereby Mr. Cohen has stated unequivocally that Liverpool supporters should "share responsibility" for the deaths of the 96.

Mr. Cohen was asked to give authoritative support for his claims or apologize and share with his listeners the facts. Mr. Cohen has done neither and is adamant about his "opinion".

Therefore we are asking for this extraordinary action from you our supporters. It is your choice to assist us in this matter.


We would also like for you not to email or call Mr. Cohen or his shows. Any interaction with Mr. Cohen he will use as an indication that the boycott is ineffective.


These advertisers have already responded and we would like you to offer your support for their actions:

Fado's Irish Pubs
www.fadoirishpub.com

FourFourTwo ( Haymarket publishing)
North American subscription website is www.themagazineshop.com.
Once you have chosen FourFourTwo from the magazine selection, there is a promo box and if you input the code mls91, you can get up to 50% off at the moment.

World Soccer Shop  ( 365-inc. )
www.worldsoccershop.com

Who Are Ya Designs.
www.whoareyadesigns.com




Further, we believe Setanta will not accept any more advertising from World Soccer Daily once the current contract expires.


We will update the list of advertisers as necessary.


Thank you for your consideration in this matter,

North American Liverpool Football Club Branches







Email sent to Mr. Cohen and his advertisers 5/5/09:

Official Notice Of Boycott by North American Liverpool Supporter Branches

Dear Advertisers:

Previously you were notified of a potential boycott by Liverpool supporters in North America. We are now ready to make this an official position. We will be notifying our members through the branches and through multiple supporter websites of this action including the official LiverpoolFC website.

We have given Mr. Cohen ample time to review the facts presented to him or for him to present his documentable evidence which supports his position as requested. Mr. Cohen and I have exchanged emails for the past 9 days. They have been civil. However, he has stated we have nothing further to discuss.

He has not presented any evidence to support his position.

You are probably wondering what has led to this action:

History:

On December 5th 2006 on the Fox Football Fone-in television show, Mr Cohen made these remarks:

" Liverpool supporters are directly responsible for causing the two worst disasters in English football history, Heysel and Hillsborough". That "there is a disgusting side of Liverpools history that he would be happy to talk about."

He was also quoted on his Sirius radio show of making the comment; " They have five stars on their shirts but should have 39 coffins."

These comments and others caused outrage by Liverpool supporters and many emails were sent to Fox Soccer Channel and Sirius Satellite Radio. The facts concerning the disasters were sent to offset these outrageous claims.

One week later on December 12th 2006 on Fox Football Fone-in television show, Mr Cohen opened the show with this:

" But first, last week here on Fox Football Fone-in, in the heat of the moment, I made some very disparaging remarks about Liverpool Football Club and their supporters. I know that i'm a passionate Chelsea fan and it takes up almost all of my waking hours . I also know that when i'm wound up over comments against Chelsea, like many fans, I resort to insults that can be very hurt full. As a broadcast professional I should know better and not let it get to this stage. I've apologized on my radio show World Soccer Daily and i've also apologized to the management here at Fox Soccer Channel. But most importantly I wish to apologize to all our viewers."


At that point in time most supporters were satisfied that our concerns over his comments of laying blame to Liverpool supporters  allowed him to reflect on his "opinion" and he had realized his error due to the facts presented to him.


History Part 2:

April 15, 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death.

Mr. Cohen once again took the opportunity to lay a claim of "some responsibility" of blame should be shared by Liverpool supporters due to ticketless fans getting into the stadium. He originally claimed 6-8,000 ticketless fans got in.  Which was then revised to "2-3,000 or 25 or 1, it makes no difference."

I have presented various facts to Mr. Cohen. You can judge for yourself.

SWFC ( Sheffield Wednesday Football Club) Hillsborough stadium turnstiles recorded the number of admissions and in addition they had installed cameras which were used to count any fans climbing over the turnstiles. Their stats show the ticket allocation was not exceeded.

The health and safety executive reviewed electronic counters and cctv footage of the turnstiles and counted each person, who came in thru the turnstiles, climbed over the wall and came in thru gate c etc, they too showed that the allocation of tickets was not exceeded.

see 8.1 conclusions. health and safety report on hillsborough in the Taylor report.
" my best estimate of the number of people admitted thru turnstiles a-g and thru gate c is 9734. It is my opinion that the true total is most unlikely to have exceeded 10'124 i.e The total number of admissions were approximately equal to the designated capacity of 10'100 people for the west( leppings lane) terraces." As reported to the independent inquiry by the South Yorkshire Health and Safety Officer.

They were still admitting fans to the stadium as late as 3:10 as cctv evidence shows. The crush had already happened.

If you put the majority of 9734 people into an area not designed for it, as the side pens were virtually empty, that is what caused the problem. Further LFC had over 10,000 tickets for that end.

If you research the situation, you too will come to the same conclusion. The numbers don't add up for ticketless fans to be a reason for the crush, if any got in anyway. The total allocation wasn't admitted before the crush happened.


Further if any ticketless fans did get in, they along with ticketed fans were directed by the police into an overcrowding pen down a tunnel and not into the virtually open side pens. So any blame attached to ticketless fans dissipates because of the police involvement in directing supporters into the main pen. And as the total Liverpool allocation hadn't even been admitted into the ground before the crush happens this also disproves the assertion that any ticketless fans who did sneak in means Liverpool supporters themselves should share some of the blame. His assertion may only have weight if all ticketed fans made it in before kickoff and the ticketless fans--added to the problem. Which is what clearly did not happen.



In conclusion it makes no difference if any ticketless fans got in anyway because capacity was not met. There was still room for 390 more supporters to enter to make capacity. Mr. Cohen refuse to believe the official investigations reporting of the incident.

Which leaves us with the unsavory analysis of Mr. Cohen's remarks that it is the fans themselves who packed the stands who should share the blame for the crush. So in essence he is laying the "shared responsibility" blame on those 9638 supporters who survived the crush for the deaths of the 96 who did not come home that day. Some of those survivors or their family members now reside in North America. That is his damning indictment of our supporters and one which is unfounded, hurtful and as far as we are concerned is a blatant outright lie.

His previous apology apparently is hollow. So we have chosen to take additional steps as a course of action because the truth and facts are not being disseminated on his show. There is only one opinion allowed and frequently put forth on his show, which is accusing Liverpool supporters of "shared responsibility". Not for going to a football match and following the stadium management and police directions as they did do. Along with the supporters being exonerated by any investigation into the tragedy. There was no action on the supporters part entering the stadium or in the pens themselves which was questioned by any research done of the tragedy.

There is no Freedom of Speech issue here. As Mr. Cohen is free to make any remarks or comments on the show he likes. Of course those that are hurtful and as damning as his remarks have been means that there are consequences that we will now exercise as an apology is not forthcoming along with the truth and facts of the tragedy being disseminated on his show(s).

So we will ask official members, other Liverpool supporters in North America and those Worldwide who have access to any product or service advertised on his show to boycott those products or services. We will have our branches notify their members of this action.

As mentioned previously we will also remind our supporters in August when the season resumes and will update them on those advertisers who support an individual who is allowed to make accusations with no documentary facts as outrageous and damning as those of Mr. Cohen.

We hope you understand our actions have nothing specific to do with your product or service. We would appreciate your support on this issue.

We want to thank those companies who have already taken action due to reviewing the facts and coming to a similar conclusion:
FourFourTwo
365-inc.
Fado's


Lastly we would like to thank New England Revolution Manager Stevie Nicol who was a player for Liverpool at Hiillsborough that day who has notified Mr. Cohen that he will have no more to do with any of his shows.

Sincerely,
Mel ( Last name)

Acting Representative
North American Branches
Liverpool Football Club

CC:
Steven Cohen
Sirius
Fox Soccer Channel
North American Branches
Liverpool Football Club

[JoeTerp]

would never have bought anything from those sponsors anyway, so I will certainly be keeping up my end of the bargain

But on a serious note that guy sucks big time and should not be on the air

[supersub]

It saddens me that there are still such ignorant people in the media with an obvious agenda to mislead and corrupt.....

[Igor Zidane]

It saddens me that there are still such ignorant people in the media with an obvious agenda to mislead and corrupt.....

This fella is one of the worst SS.

[Igor Zidane]

Here's an interview he he's only just given with an LA based paper. Read it and weep .


WOLF: L.A.-based soccer radio host's opinion raises Liverpool fans' ire

By Scott Wolf, columnist Updated: 05/11/2009 10:46:25 PM PDT
                     

It is quite easy to be an avid sports fan in Southern California or anywhere else in this country without spending one second thinking about soccer.

So it's perhaps the ultimate irony that an intense battle is being pitched right now over comments made by a Los Angeles-based radio host with a fervor usually reserved for all those other soccer-mad countries.

Last month, Steven Cohen, the host of the "World Soccer Daily" show on Sirius/XM satellite radio, infuriated Liverpool supporters with his comments regarding the 20 th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, the worst tragedy in English soccer history.
First, some history. On April 15, 1989, 96 Liverpool fans died when one end of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, became overcrowded at the start of an FA Cup semifinal game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

A crush ensued as too many people were allowed to enter two sections of the stadium, and victims were pushed up against perimeter fencing that kept them from jumping to safety on the field.

An official inquiry was conducted in England and produced the Taylor Report, which blamed poor policing for the tragedy and recommended the removal of standing-only areas and perimeter fencing.

Cohen dove into the situation head-first when he said Liverpool's fans should "share responsibility" in the blame.

"When people go to games without tickets and liquored up and 96 tragically die, at some point the fans have to share responsibility. You can't just blame the police," Cohen said.


"I'm not saying they went with evil in their hearts to do it. Liverpool brought the same number of fans as the year before (to Hillsborough) even though they were at the smaller end of the stadium this time.

"I have expressed an opinion that there was a shared responsibility."

Unfortunately for Cohen, an American-based soccer Web site picked up the story and said he "solely" blamed Liverpool's fans for the tragedy. Since then, he's received hundreds of death threats, threats to kidnap his fiancee's children and threats to burn down his house.

"It's spread like a virus," he said.
Cohen estimates more than 3,500 e-mails were sent to his show regarding the controversy.

"I've seen the Taliban less defensive," Cohen said. "If this was being done in Afghanistan or Pakistan, we'd call these people terrorists. A lot of them are little cowards hiding behind their computers.

"(But) I feel my life and my livelihood is at stake."
Some e-mails compare Cohen's comments to blaming the victims in the World Trade Center for Sept. 11.

"You almost wonder what they are protesting so much?" Cohen said. "Why do they care so much about what some nebbish in California in a soccer wasteland thinks? This is terror tactics from one club's fans that are hypersensitive."

In the small but die-hard world of U.S. soccer fans, this is news because "World Soccer Daily" is the only national radio show devoted to the sport in North America. It consistently ranks among the top 10 sports podcasts downloaded daily on iTunes and revolves around Cohen's lively opinions, insight and top-notch guests.

But its future hangs in the balance because of a sponsor-boycott led by Liverpool fans. Achief organizer is Mel ****, the acting representative the North American branches for Liverpool Football Club.

"What we were asking for is for Steven to provide the information that led him to his 'opinion' or to apologize and give his listeners the facts," Abshier said.

"Imagine USC (football) supporters going to a game, being told to go down a tunnel into a packed, standing-room only area. And due to the crush, 96 USC supporters died. One might ask one self, why those who went in should 'share responsibility' in the deaths of their fellow supporters because basically that is Stevens claim."
So far, the boycott has produced results.

FourFourTwo, a respected soccer magazine based in England, pulled its advertising, along with Fado, a chain of 14 Irish pubs in the United States.

Cohen was scheduled to appear at the Fado pub in Austin, Texas, last Tuesday for the Champions League semifinal between Arsenal and Manchester United but the event was canceled following boycott threats. A similar appearance at the Philadelphia restaurant for the Champions League final was also canceled.

"Our sponsors are being bombarded," Cohen said.

Another sponsor, Setanta Sports Network, is also wavering.

"The ugly side of English football is rearing its head in America," Cohen said.

Cohen, who also hosts a phone-in show on Fox Soccer Channel, was born and raised in London, then moved to the United States in 1982 and served in the U.S. Army from 1982-86.

"I adore this country," he said. "I don't care for Rush Limbaugh, but I'd defend his right to say it."

He knows that in his native England, he would already be fired.
"I'd be lynched (in England)," he said. "The English media are being scared off this story."

Last week, the United Kingdom banned right-wing radio host Michael Savage from entering the country for allegedly fostering extremism or hatred.

Cohen further angers Liverpool fans when he says that Hillsborough is related to the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster in Belgium, when 39 soccer fans of the Italian club, Juventus, died after Liverpool fans breached a fence and attacked them. The Juventus fans retreated, which caused a retaining wall to collapse. The crush of fans led to deaths and around 600 injuries.

"The only common link to these two incidents is Liverpool football club," Cohen said. "I'm saying it's not a coincidence. But they will not have anything to do with it. I merely passed on an opinion that they are not as blame less as they think they are."
Whatever happens in the next few weeks, if the radio show is ultimately a casualty, American soccer fans will suffer.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_12348448




So now we are the Taliban???

As for  'American soccer fans' suffering - how was education ever punishment?

[Bad Bob]

First I've heard of this clown or the sh!t storm he's started.  Cheers for the update, Igor.  None of the businesses on the boycott list even ring a bell for me so, like Joe, a boycott won't be a problem.  The only issue is Setanta, which I have and adore because it is the ONLY way I get to watch the lads each and every match.  Hopefully they join the boycott as well otherwise I'll have a very tough decision to make.  Keep us posted, Igor.

[burjennio]

thats dispicable, how can anyone who makes such unfounded and callous claims not be held accountable by his superiors and removed from his position, is it because football in America is merely a blip on the radar? If anyone in this country in the public eye made such remarks they would be fired  immediately and i mean that in relation to any disaster. In fact IIRC Rodney Marsh, muppet that he is got released from his job on Soccer Saturday for making insensitive remarks about the 2005 Asian Tsunami. How can it be so different in America, where you can apparently be dragged into a coutroom for just about anything? Or is this just a case of another "shockjock" stirring up controversy in an attempt to bolster ratings? If so I hope this boycott shows this tw*t's superiors that there he has crossed the line and their only course of action is to hand him his notice before he's left bradcasting to an audience of zero.

[JoeTerp]

First I've heard of this clown or the sh!t storm he's started.  Cheers for the update, Igor.  None of the businesses on the boycott list even ring a bell for me so, like Joe, a boycott won't be a problem.  The only issue is Setanta, which I have and adore because it is the ONLY way I get to watch the lads each and every match.  Hopefully they join the boycott as well otherwise I'll have a very tough decision to make.  Keep us posted, Igor.

was thinking about canceling Setanta for June and July to save $30 anyway. Now when I ring up, I will tell them its because of a boycott. (hopefully they will get their act together before the start of next season). If not, I am afraid I would have to purchase Setanta anyway because I am certainly not going to let a little c*nt like Cohen stop me from watching Liverpool play.  Fox Soccer Channel is worse because they give this piece of sh*t his own tv show.

[Number 9]

They have 5 stars on their shirt but should have 39 coffins!

Sick bast,ard,what a disgusting thing  to say!!
Unbelievable!!

[Bad Bob]

First I've heard of this clown or the sh!t storm he's started.  Cheers for the update, Igor.  None of the businesses on the boycott list even ring a bell for me so, like Joe, a boycott won't be a problem.  The only issue is Setanta, which I have and adore because it is the ONLY way I get to watch the lads each and every match.  Hopefully they join the boycott as well otherwise I'll have a very tough decision to make.  Keep us posted, Igor.

was thinking about canceling Setanta for June and July to save $30 anyway. Now when I ring up, I will tell them its because of a boycott. (hopefully they will get their act together before the start of next season). If not, I am afraid I would have to purchase Setanta anyway because I am certainly not going to let a little c*nt like Cohen stop me from watching Liverpool play.  Fox Soccer Channel is worse because they give this piece of sh*t his own tv show.

Same Joe...I'll be canceling my Setanta subscription as soon as the season's over to save a few months of paying for boring sh!te and I hope they'll have severed all ties with this Cohen muppet by the time August rolls around.  At this stage, though, I can't see not re-enrolling in order to watch the lads play.  Every time I read people moaning about their dodgy internet feeds in the match thread I thank my lucky stars I don't have to do the old huddle around the laptop thing anymore.  Crisp detail, English commentators, 'expert' punditry, real time action....nah I can't be giving that up, I'm afraid. 

[JC_81]

This guy is one ignorant .  That 39 coffins comment is outrageous

[JoeTerp]

First I've heard of this clown or the sh!t storm he's started.  Cheers for the update, Igor.  None of the businesses on the boycott list even ring a bell for me so, like Joe, a boycott won't be a problem.  The only issue is Setanta, which I have and adore because it is the ONLY way I get to watch the lads each and every match.  Hopefully they join the boycott as well otherwise I'll have a very tough decision to make.  Keep us posted, Igor.

was thinking about canceling Setanta for June and July to save $30 anyway. Now when I ring up, I will tell them its because of a boycott. (hopefully they will get their act together before the start of next season). If not, I am afraid I would have to purchase Setanta anyway because I am certainly not going to let a little c*nt like Cohen stop me from watching Liverpool play.  Fox Soccer Channel is worse because they give this piece of sh*t his own tv show.

Same Joe...I'll be canceling my Setanta subscription as soon as the season's over to save a few months of paying for boring sh!te and I hope they'll have severed all ties with this Cohen muppet by the time August rolls around.  At this stage, though, I can't see not re-enrolling in order to watch the lads play.  Every time I read people moaning about their dodgy internet feeds in the match thread I thank my lucky stars I don't have to do the old huddle around the laptop thing anymore.  Crisp detail, English commentators, 'expert' punditry, real time action....nah I can't be giving that up, I'm afraid. 

I would like to think that they don't want to support such a DB, but there are just not that many other all-footy-interested audiences out their in North America, which is the perfect type of audience to be marketing to (although a lot of it I imagine is a bit redundant because I bet a good amount of the idiots that listen to him have Setanta already). Hopefully as soon as another footy talk show comes around with an audience, Setanta will advertise on that show.

[yolz]

While it's disgusting that people like that can make such comments on the air,
it gladdens my heart that there are plenty of true liverpool fans ready to do ther part
You Never Walk Alone!

[red_guy]

What a lowlife.

[maypaxvobiscum]

They have 5 stars on their shirt but should have 39 coffins!

Sick bast,ard,what a disgusting thing  to say!!
Unbelievable!!

yeah wtf? someone should smack him!