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Arizona has issued an apology for a chant used by fans after the Wildcats’ game against BYU late Saturday night.
Reporters and fans captured video of the crowd chanting “F— the Mormons” following the end of the game. Here’s a (NSFW) clip:
The chant followed an emotional 96-95 loss to the Cougars that included multiple controversial calls in the closing minute of the game.
Soon after the game ended, Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois issued an apology for the offensive chant:
Following tonight’s men’s basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred.
On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened.
It’s unclear at this time if Arizona will pursue any sort of consequences for fans who are found to have participated in the chant.
The events on Saturday night muddied what have been an otherwise good season for Arizona. The Wildcats are 18-9 this season and are tied for 2nd place in the Big 12 regular-season standings.
This is not the first time a BYU athletics team has had to endure this chant in recent years. The university recently provided a lengthy statement regarding the chant for a story by the Salt Lake Tribune.
“We can all agree that there is certain fan behavior at athletic events that crosses a line,” the statement read in-part. “We would hope that more people could see that disparaging someone’s religion crosses that line.”
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
