Fans call for ABC News to apologise for repeating Hillsborough slur in Copa America report

Fans have called for an apology from the Associated Press (AP) and ABC News after their reports on the issues surrounding Sunday's Copa America final contained misinformation about the Hillsborough disaster. 

AP published an article on Tuesday morning regarding the crowd issues during the Copa America final between Colombia and Argentina.

At the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the venue for the final, there were chaotic scenes as fans reportedly attempted to enter the stadium without tickets.

Some of those that had purchased tickets on Ticketmaster, were also reportedly turned away when attempting to enter the arena.

Australia's ABC News then published a piece on the Copa America final, repeating the misinformation provided by AP that claimed the Hillsborough disaster was caused by football fans forcing their way into the stadium.

ABC News then placed an editor's note in a revised version of their article, stating: "An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information provided by the Associated Press news agency that referenced a 1989 crush at an English soccer match as being the result of fans forcing their way into the stadium.

"In 2016, an inquest into the Hillsborough tragedy found the victims of the crush had been unlawfully killed and that fan behaviour had not contributed to the tragedy."

Despite retracting the information in their articles, AP and ABC News have not apologised for their mistake. Fans are calling on them to issue an apology immediately.

Speaking about the incident, Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance stated on social media: "@abcnews please could someone contact us [email protected]. You really need to apologise for your article reference to Hillsborough. 35 years and still we have to defend the 97 and ourselves against people who aren't educated in the TRUTH."

97 fans lost their lives as a result of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, with the 2016 coroner's inquest ruling that supporters had been unlawfully killed in the tragedy due to the police and ambulance services failing to fulfil their duty of care.

The inquest also ruled that the design of the stadium had contributed to the disaster, with supporters not to blame for unsafe conditions.

It's appalling to see that over three decades later, lies are still being spread about the disaster.