Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has apologized for singing a song with Argentina teammates that included racist and homophobic slurs about the French national team.
Fernández posted a video to his Instagram account showing several players joining in the chant as the team celebrated Sunday’s Copa America victory over Colombia on the team bus.
“I want to sincerely apologize for a video posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations,” Fernández said in a statement. “The song contains highly offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words.
“I stand against discrimination in all forms and apologise for getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa América celebrations. That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my belief or character.”
In a statement, Chelsea said it “finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable” and has launched an internal disciplinary procedure.
In addition, the French Football Federation (FFF) said it will file a legal complaint over the chant, calling it opposed “to the values of sport and human rights.”
“The President of the FFF, Phillipe Diallo, condemns in the strongest terms the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks which were made against players of the French team in the form of a chant sung by the players and supporters of the Argentinian team after their victory in the Copa America, which was shared in a video on social media,” the statement read.
“The president of the FFF decided to directly appeal to his Argentinian counterpart and FIFA and to file a legal complaint for racially offensive and discriminatory remarks.
A FIFA spokesperson told CNN: “FIFA is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into. FIFA strongly condemns any form of discrimination by anyone including players, fans and officials.”
CNN has contacted the Argentine Federation for comment.
On Tuesday, Fernández’s Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana, a Black French national team player, posted the video on his X account with the caption: “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.”
Source: CNN SPORT
