World Soccer Daily, Sirius Radio’s football call-in which aired weekdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pacific, announced they will cease broadcast, effectively immediately. Show host and owner Steven Cohen announced the decision on Friday’s show, citing security concerns extending from an ongoing battle with Liverpool FC supporters groups.
Cohen attributed his decision to cease broadcasting to threats received by his family. Recently married, Cohen cited contact made with his step-daughters by Liverpool supporters. In response to callers appeals, Cohen said continuing the show was “not worth it,” later admitting that the boycott had achieved its goal.
Since April, Cohen has been the subject of a boycott from the North American branches of Liverpool supporters groups, a protest born from Cohen’s characterization of the Hillsborough Disaster. Supporters groups objected to Cohen’s claims that unticketed Liverpool supporters were responsible for the deaths of 96 fans at Hillsborough stadium, where Liverpool was to play a FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest. Their protests had been successful in persuading sponsors such as Heineken and FourFourTwo magazine to withdraw their advertising on World Soccer Daily. Earlier this month, Fox had announced Cohen would not return to Fox Football Fone-In, Fox Soccer Channel’s weekly television show.
“At some point, where do you draw the line and say ‘This is just crazy,’” Cohen told a caller, describing how he felt the conflict between himself and the protests had escalated to where he could see somebody becoming a “martyr” in support of the boycott. Cohen characterized the actions as “a form of terrorism.”
“Over the last few months,” Cohen said, “The game has not been fun for me. Every day, waking up to antisemitism.
“It just takes its toll.”
During the show, Cohen named Conor Brennan, vice-president of the New York branch of the Liverpool Supporters Club, and Mel Abshire, the acting head of the North American Liverpool Supporters Groups. Brennan and Abshier have previously denied association with antisemitic and otherwise threatening actions.
On its last day of production, World Soccer Daily was the twelfth most-downloaded sports podcast on iTunes, and the most downloaded football podcast distributed through the service.
Request for comment by LFCNY had not been returned at the time of publication.
Update: The Liverpool Supporter Club New York (LFCNY) issued a statement shortly after noon Pacific time. That statement can be found here.
