Millwall are considering taking legal action after Westminster City Council shared an image of a white supremacist with the club’s badge on.
The illustration was distributed in an educational booklet about the life of Paul Canoville, the first black player to play for Chelsea.
The image showed a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) figure making a Nazi salute with the Millwall club badge, next to a quotation from a picture of Canoville saying how “racism never went away”.
The booklet had been distributed across schools in the area, but has since been recalled.
Millwall are ‘considering legal action’ against Westminster Council | PA
Millwall said they have received a “full apology” from the council.
In a statement, the club told GB News: “The club has received a full apology from the council following their serious misuse of a registered club badge, which was placed on an illustration of a white supremacist hate group member in a children’s education booklet distributed in schools, creating a false and damaging image of the club.
“The council have confirmed no more copies of the image with the club’s logo will be made or distributed by them, and all remaining material in their possession will be destroyed.
“The club is still considering its legal position on the matter and are unable to comment further.”
The Championship side said it ‘creates a false and damaging image of the club’
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Part of this work includes the “AllWall”, which “serves as the umbrella for Millwall’s equality, diversity, and inclusion work”.
The Lions were the first EFL club to achieve Kick It Out’s Intermediate Level Race Equality Standard award in 2010.
A spokesman for the council told the People’s Channel: “We accept the use of this image was an insensitive way to illustrate the problem of racism within football.
Paul Canoville had not seen the booklet or approved its distribution
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“We have apologised to Millwall Football Club for the improper use of their logo and for any offence caused.
“The booklet has been removed from circulation, and we are reviewing processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
A spokesman for The Paul Canoville Foundation described the imagery as not factually correct.
It told The Athletic the message in spirit was correct, detailing when three Millwall supporters in the early eighties racially abused him with KKK hoods but were not wearing the club’s crest.
Millwall received an apology from Westminster Council
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The Paul Canoville Foundation said that the education officer from the council created the booklet.
It noted that to create a visual representation of what happened, it put the Millwall badge onto the figure
Canoville had not approved or seen the booklet and was used as a representation of what racism looked like in the 1980s.
