Chelsea coach Avram Grant, wife receive anti-Semitic death threats

British police are investigating an anti-Semitic death threat sent to Avram Grant, the Chelsea soccer team's Israeli manager, and his wife.

A parcel containing a note to Grant claiming that an accompanying amount of powder was lethal, was sent to Chelsea's training ground on Tuesday, and opened by a staff member. Local police closed the ground before the powder was tested and found to be harmless.

According to the Daily Mail, one note in the package read: "You are a back-stabbing Jewish bastard. When you open this letter you will die a very slow and painful death." Another message made sexual threats against his wife, Tzofit.

"Specific actions are being put in place to ensure Mr. and Mrs. Grant are safe," a Chelsea source said in response to the threat.

Grant arrived at Stamford Bridge last July as director of soccer and became manager in September, following the departure of the hugely popular Jose Mourinho.

While many fans disagree with former Conservative heritage minister David Mellor, who said the only reason Grant was appointed is because he is a Russian Israeli at a club owned by an Israel-obsessed Russian, some do believe that the Jewish presence at the club's highest echelons, and Grant's personal relationship with club owner Roman Abramovich, are the reasons for his appointment.

The chairman of Chelsea FC, Bruce Buck, condemned some fans' use of anti-Semitic taunts soon after Grant's appointment. "We welcome all constructive points of view. But there have been a few which could be viewed as racist and anti-Semitic and that must stop immediately," Buck said. "This is one thing we will not tolerate, whether in written correspondence, on the chat pages, on posters or banners, or through singing and chanting."