Enzo Fernandez his Chelsea He will meet his team-mates on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States later this month, and only then will the club know how well his apology for his actions has been accepted.
New manager Enzo Maresca has only been on the training ground for a few weeks but is already facing the first major test of his talent management skills.
One source close to the veteran player, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: Athletic Before Fernández’s live broadcast, he explained that this was to protect the relationship, but the start of the Maresca regime couldn’t have been better. The team members who were not participating in international competitions took up their duties from July 4th, and the feedback from the Italian player’s sessions has been very positive. The atmosphere is good.
That was until Fernandez livestreamed a video of himself and some of his Argentina teammates singing what the French Football Federation (FFF) described as a “racist and discriminatory song.” Argentinabeat Colombia in the Copa America final on Sunday night. The FFF says it plans to file a legal complaint with FIFA. And rightly so: the lyrics are offensive, mock the French player’s career and contain transphobic overtones.
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The video went viral for all the wrong reasons, and the FFF were not the only ones to express their outrage. Fernandes’ actions were also seen by his Chelsea colleagues, who reacted poorly. “There were a lot of people who were really angry,” says a source close to the veteran player. “Everyone was asking, ‘Why did he do that?'”
Fernandez celebrates Argentina’s Copa America victory (Juan Mavromata/AFP via Getty Images)
“There has always been a strong sense of unity in the squad and the club just needed the right coach to make it work, but this incident has changed that. It will be interesting to see what happens when Fernandes returns to the club.” Another person familiar with the team environment said the situation was even more serious and the camp was initially “divided”.
Signs of unrest emerged on Tuesday when Chelsea’s French players en masse unfollowed Fernandes on Instagram. Wesley FofanaFofana then posted a clip of Fernandes’ video on X with the caption “Football 2024: unrestrained racism,” after which his account was subjected to a torrent of racist slurs.
Chelsea promised to investigate the incident on Tuesday afternoon, which would include verifying the authenticity of the video. FernandezCopa America While he was no longer with the club (and therefore was not immediately available to speak directly), he issued a statement of apology by late Tuesday night UK time. “I would like to apologise for the video I posted on my Instagram channel during the national team victory celebrations,” he wrote.
“This song contains extremely offensive words and there is absolutely no excuse for those words. I stand against discrimination in all forms and apologize for getting caught up in the heat of the Copa America celebrations. That video, that moment and those words do not reflect my beliefs or character. I am truly sorry.”
On Wednesday morning UK time, Chelsea released their own statement: “Chelsea Football Club considers discriminatory behaviour to be totally unacceptable in any form. We are proud to be a diverse and inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities are welcome.”
“We acknowledge and appreciate the player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to enlighten others. The club has initiated internal disciplinary procedures.”
Fernandez has since contacted all his teammates to express his regret for what he has done.
Chelsea’s Senegalese representative Nicholas Jackson He also posted two photos of Fernandez to his Instagram account, one of him sitting with Fernandez and the other a short video of Fernandez interacting with a young black fan in the past. Fernandez captioned the video, “Enzo Fernandez and this young fan.” The post has since been deleted.
Maresca and his players will leave for pre-season next week (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
A sign that things are not going as well as Chelsea had hoped is that striker David Datolo Fofana After Wesley Fofana expressed his disappointment over the events on Wednesday afternoon.
“The football I love is multi-ethnic,” he wrote on his Instagram account. “Racism in all its forms must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. These acts have no place in football, or anywhere else. This fight needs to be taken seriously by everyone involved in the sport.”
So what happens now? Fernandes’ time off may help ease tensions for the time being, but the issue will undoubtedly come to the fore once he flies, as expected, to the United States to join the Chelsea squad who leave on their pre-season tour next Monday. A person with knowledge of the team situation said: Athletic They feel some sort of mediation must still take place.
Fernandes, who joined from Benfica 18 months ago for £106m and is under contract until 2032, is clearly seen as one of Chelsea’s key players, but his behaviour has also posed a problem for Maresca, who has not spoken to the media since taking over. The Italian will inevitably have questions to answer on the matter in the near future and Fernandes’ bond with his colleague, not to mention his form, will come under greater scrutiny than ever before.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
