Chelsea criticised over 'disgusting' Enzo Fernandez statement on 'racist' video
Chelsea have addressed the alleged 'racist' video broadcast on Enzo Fernandez's social media - but the Premier League club have been criticised following the release of their statement
Chelsea have been widely condemned for their statement in response to Enzo Fernandez's 'racist' video - failing to even name the Argentina midfielder.
The Blues footballer celebrated Copa America success on Sunday night with his compatriots and broadcasted them live from the team bus, where they broke out into an alleged 'racist' song that mocked French players and their national identity.
Fernandez has been quick to apologise, insisting that "those words, do not reflect my character or beliefs". The Argentine has a number of black French team-mates at Chelsea and Wesley Fofana has already come out and criticised the video - with a host of players unfollowing Fernandez on social media.
The club themselves have now come out and released a statement, but refused to acknowledge Fernandez as the man involved. They said: "We acknowledge and appreciate our player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate. The Club has instigated an internal disciplinary procedure."
Many though have been less than impressed by their response with plenty feeling as though they've not properly addressed the issue. One fan said: "What a s*** statement, disgusting." Another questioned: "Is that it?" That was echoed as someone else said: "That is not a statement".
Fofana made his views clear as he tweeted a clip from the footage and simply said: “ Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.” In a statement the French Football Federation said its president, Philippe Diallo, would challenge the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, and the Argentina FA to respond to the alleged remarks.
They said: “Faced with the seriousness of these shocking remarks, contrary to the values of sport and human rights, the president of the FFF decided to directly challenge his Argentinian counterpart and Fifa, and to file a legal complaint for insulting remarks of a racist and discriminatory nature.”
Fifa president Infantino has said football and its 211 national federations must have a zero-tolerance approach to racism and in May committed to relaunching a task force to monitor incidents - which is now likely to be put to the test.
The full lyrics to the song, sung by the Argentine team, are: "Listen, spread the word, they play in France, but they are all from Angola, they are going to run well, they like to sleep with trans people, their mum is Nigerian, their dad is Cameroonian, but on the passport it says: French."
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