What should have been remembered as a moment of celebration for Argentina has developed into an uproar that threatens to tarnish their Copa America triumph and cast a shadow over Chelsea’s pre-season preparations. Enzo Fernandez is at the heart of the storm, having live-streamed himself and his international team-mates gleefully belting out a racist and transphobic chant at France’s expense on board the team bus in the wake of the victory over Colombia.
Fernandez has inevitably apologised for his role in the appalling incident, but the backlash suggests this will not be a case of forgive and forget. Chelsea have a proud history of Black French players who are of African descent, including club legends Marcel Desailly and N’Golo Kante, while the current squad has several members from a similar background.
Fernandez’s involvement has not been well received by his team-mates, and now newly-installed head coach Enzo Maresca has a serious problem on his hands before the season has even begun.
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InstagramRacism & transphobia storm
An entirely avoidable situation, Fernandez and his team-mates bizarrely decided to indulge in a racist and transphobic chant against the French when they had just tasted victory over Colombia in the Copa America final in Miami.
The animosity between the two footballing powerhouses dates back to the 2022 World Cup final as jibes were exchanged before and after Argentina’s triumph, with France talisman Kylian Mbappe the target of much of the abuse after he had questioned the level of football in South America.
For some inexplicable reason, the Albiceleste squad decided to renew hostilities with their European rivals after winning a second-consecutive Copa. Fernandez streamed an Instagram Live to his 11 million followers of himself and his jubilant team-mates beginning to sing these derogatory words, before someone abruptly and rather tellingly shouts for the video to be ‘cut off’ after the part about Angola: “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.”
Both racist and transphobic, the mention of “trans people” is believed to relate to Mbappe’s association with transgender model Ines Rau.
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Getty‘Unabashed racism’
Fernandez’s mindlessness means he will be walking into a hostile environment when he returns to his club for pre-season after a holiday, with a number of his team-mates ‘angered’ and some unfollowing him on Instagram after the nature of the chant came to light.
In an unprecedented step, Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana – himself a Frenchman of Ivorian descent – called out his colleague and the “unabashed racism” shown in the video on his own Instagram story. Blues striker David Datro Fofana followed suit, writing: “Racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. This fight really needs to be taken seriously by everyone involved in this sport.”
Fernandez and his compatriots are likely to face scrutiny from football’s governing body, too, with the French federation making a formal complaint to FIFA over the “racist and discriminatory” song. A statement read: “The President of the Federation Française de Football, Philippe Diallo, condemns in the strongest possible terms the unacceptable racist and discriminatory comments made against players of the French national team.
“In view of the seriousness of these shocking remarks, which run counter to the values of sport and human rights, the President of the FFF has decided to take his Argentine counterpart and FIFA directly to court and to file a complaint for racially offensive and discriminatory remarks.”
FIFA said in their own statement: “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.”
‘I am truly sorry’
Fernandez’s apology inevitably arrived a day later, in the form of a message on his Instagram story written in the Comic Sans font. However, it failed to address why he and his international team-mates had taken the time to learn the discriminatory lyrics off by heart.
“I want to apologise sincerely for a video posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations. The song includes 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 America celebrations. That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my character or beliefs. I am truly sorry.”
It has been reported that the midfielder has also apologised privately to his team-mates in a message that was circulated among the entire squad.
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GettyChelsea forced to take action
Chelsea issued their own statement shortly afterwards, suggesting they would take firm action by punishing the player even though the acknowledged his apology.
A spokesperson for the club said: “Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable. We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome.
“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.”
It remains to be seen what the result of that disciplinary action will be, although according to The Telegraph Fernandez’s actions will only result in a fine rather than a harsher punishment.
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GettyRumours of a rift
Whatever the outcome, new Chelsea head coach Maresca has a big problem on his hands having only just started work. It is clear Fernandez’s actions have caused a rift, with as many as 10 of his team-mates said to have unfollowed him on social media – the modern-day indicator of a falling-out – or snubbed him in some way.
Meanwhile, The Sun has reported that the Blues’ pre-season plans are ‘in meltdown’ amid the fallout of the incident, with an insider questioning ‘what the f*ck’ Fernandez was doing.
The issue is further complicated by one of Fernandez’s Black club-mates trying to defend him, namely Nicolas Jackson, who posted a photo of himself with Enzo on social media as well as a video of the Argentine meeting a young Black fan, seemingly trying to imply that the Argentine was not racist and was undeserving of the widespread condemnation. He later deleted the posts.
Videos of Maresca’s recent training sessions belie the claims of a rift, however, with the players visibly buying into his ideas and in good spirits as pre-season gets under way. Of course, it is unclear where the truth lies at this stage, and Fernandez will not know whether he has been forgiven by his colleagues, especially the French contingent, until he rejoins the squad at the end of July at the earliest.
Between now and then, the tense situation could either fester or de-escalate. Reintegrating the £106 million ($137m) signing will be the first big challenge of Maresca’s tenure.
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Getty ImagesBad omen?
Even if Fernandez’s return to the club goes smoothly, the furore surrounding Fernandez and Argentina will have been an unwelcome distraction at such an early stage in Maresca’s tenure. The new head coach and the club will be hoping for far better things in 2024-25 after two disappointing campaigns, with 2022-23 particularly nightmarish as the Blues finished 12th in the Premier League table.
Although the gravity of Fernandez’s actions cannot be understated in comparison, Chelsea’s pre-season preparations were also heavily disrupted in each of the past two years, which set the tone for the mightily underwhelming seasons that followed.
In 2022, there were the first signs of the breakdown in relations between then-boss Thomas Tuchel and the new ownership group led by Todd Boehly, with the disgruntled Germany coach frustrated by the club’s transfer business and “exhausting” US tour, and publicly questioning the quality of his squad after a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in a friendly. Tuchel’s successor Graham Potter later said some senior players had described it as “the worst pre-season they’ve [ever] had”.
Then last year, with Mauricio Pochettino installed as Potter’s permanent replacement, pre-season injuries derailed Chelsea’s preparations as fitness issues became an unwanted theme of the Argentine’s one-season tenure; Wesley Fofana suffered a ruptured ACL before new signing Christopher Nkunku injured knee ligament damage in a friendly on a questionable pitch against Borussia Dortmund. Trevoh Chalobah spent six months sidelined after hurting his thigh in August, while fellow defender Benoit Badiashile missed the whole period as a result of a hamstring problem he picked up at the end of the previous campaign.
The omens are not good, and Maresca will be desperate to avoid Fernandez’s serious misdemeanour becoming a defining moment in his side’s season. For now, time will tell.
Source Goal.com
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