The song is about a jealousy drama where a man stabs his girlfriend to death after she had sex with another man.
Ahead of the Six Nations rugby tournament which starts on Saturday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, the special rugby choir is now being stopped from singing the song before the match.
“Delilah will not remain on the choir’s song list during international matches at the Principality Stadium,” writes the Welsh Rugby Union in a statement and continues:
“The WRU condemns domestic violence of all kinds. We are aware that the subject matter is problematic and upsetting to some supporters.”
The decision comes after the Welsh Rugby Union has been under fire for the past week, accused of having a culture of sexism and racism within the organisation, which led to the resignation of chief executive Steve Phillips.
Photo: Daniel DeSlover
It’s the sing-along friendly one the chorus of “Delilah” which has football and rugby fans singing it at the top of their lungs at matches, especially in Wales as the legendary singer Sir Tom Jones is Welsh.
Even football team Stoke City’s supporters have made it their unofficial club song.
Fans in the stands of the Six Nations, however, have not been banned from singing the song, but on social media many consider it hypocritical to stop choirs from performing it. Outraged supporters are now calling for the song to be sung during matches.
In 2015, the song was stopped from being released played over the loudspeakers at Wales rugby matches. The following year, Chris Bryant, an MP for the Rhondda constituency in Wales, said:
– It is a fact according to the police that during big rugby matches, and also in football, the figures for domestic violence rise dramatically, he told the Guardian.
Tom Jones has received criticism for the song over the years, but has argued that it should not be taken too literally and that most people don’t think about the lyrics themselves, which were written by Barry Mason and Sylvan Whittingham.
– I love hearing it sung at rugby matches, it makes me proud to be Welsh, Jones has said in an interview in the Independent.
