Enzo Fernandez Splits Team Mates After Racist Remarks

Enzo Fernandez Splits Team Mates After Racist Remarks

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has come under fire from French team mate Wesley Fofana after a video emerged of him and a number of Argentinian squad members singing an allegedly racist chant about the French national team.

The video, which was initially a live Instagram story started by Fernandez himself, showed him at the front of shot, chanting with a number of his countrymen in Spanish following Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia in the Copa America final.

Though at the time few knew what was being said, fans have since taken time to translate the words, and many have consequently pointed out that the chant referenced the fact that many of the current France national team players are of African or mixed race origin, and were “not truly French”.

As a result of the video gaining wider public attention, French Chelsea team mates Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana have all unfollowed him on instagram, and even prompted Fofana to repost the video on twitter, paired with the caption: “Football in 2024: Uninhibited Racism.”

Le football en 2024 : racisme décomplexé 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/MGkH5wPmNU

— Wesley Fofana (@Wesley_Fofana3) July 16, 2024

However, instead of receiving unconditional support from fans and friends for speaking out, Fofana has received much in the way of racist abuse for his post, with many defending Fernandez and instead criticizing the French center back, who didn’t play a single game for club or country last season due to recovery from anterior cruciate ligament surgery.

Interestingly, Chelsea striker and Senegalese international Nicolas Jackson leapt to Fernandez’ defense, posting an instagram story of Enzo playing with a young black Chelsea fan on the pitch after a game, as well as a picture of the striker and Fernandez sitting together during a training session.

This defense from the African striker could be seen as a statement that Fernandez is not inherently racist, and was simply naive to have caught the song on camera, but the broadcast of the chant on the popular social media platform indicates otherwise, and has left Fernandez in a scenario that risks squad harmony under new coach Enzo Maresca.

As a result of the video, Chelsea have launched an internal disciplinary procedure to discover the extent to which Fernandez meant and understood the ramifications of such an incident, and cited that the situation is a good opportunity to educate about inclusiveness and diversity.

It has also prompted a public apology from Fernandez himself, and he referred to the fact that he may have become caught up in the “euphoria of our Copa America celebrations.”

So Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez has apologised for his part in singing a song - with his Argentina team-mates - so racist his Black club-mates have unfollowed and condemned him publicly.
The trouble with his apology is that it’s hard to be against discrimination in all forms when… pic.twitter.com/mSId1GS9y6

— Darren Lewis (@MirrorDarren) July 17, 2024

This is a developing story, and major updates will be covered.