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Post by Premier League News on Feb 18, 2015 8:56:02 GMT
Chelsea have strongly condemned a group of their supporters who have been caught on video singing a racist song and preventing a black man from boarding the Paris Métro.
The footage, obtained exclusively by the Guardian, shows the man repeatedly trying to squeeze on to a busy train only to be forcefully shoved out of the door and back on to the platform at the Richelieu – Drouot station before Chelsea’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes. The fans on the train are then heard chanting a song that appears to be celebrating what has just happened and includes the line: “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it” while a black woman is standing directly in front of them.
The video immediately sparked widespread condemnation after being posted on the Guardian’s website and could lead to disciplinary action from Uefa if the governing body decides an event that happened away from the stadium is within its remit. Chelsea would feasibly face a fine and a warning.
The club said: “Such behaviour is abhorrent and has no place in football or society. We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”
Paul Nolan, a British expatriate who filmed the clip on his phone, told the Guardian that he had arrived on the platform on Tuesday evening after finishing work.
“The doors were open and I could see and hear that a lot of chanting was going on,” he said. “It looked like it was quite aggressive so I just took out by phone to record it.”
He said that the train had been stopped for about three minutes when the man arrived on the platform and tried to get on.
“He was obviously completely shocked when they pushed him off. I don’t think he realised who they were. He then tried to get on again and got pushed off a second time.
“I was just completely appalled by it and so that’s why I tried to catch some of it on my phone, although I was a bit self-conscious as it was getting quite aggressive and I overhead one of the Chelsea fans say something about stabbing someone. I think he was referring to a Paris Saint-Germain supporter who was on the platform.”
Nolan added that others on the platform looked on in disbelief: “There definitely was a culture shock. I heard a couple of French guys saying: ‘I can’t believe this. It’s insane.’”
French police reportedly used teargas outside the match venue amid scuffles involving Chelsea fans before the game.
Chelsea fanzine editor David Johnstone believes the incident could have severe consequences for the club’s reputation. “Because of the actions of possibly half a dozen people on a Metro train in Paris all the supporters are going to be labelled as racist,” he told BBC Radio Five Live.
“I think the majority of Chelsea supporters are disgusted by what’s happened. The 2,000 who were in Paris today support a Jewish-owned football team where the majority of players are black and foreign.”
Daniel Taylor & Brian Quinn, Guardian
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Post by Premier League News on Feb 19, 2015 8:54:00 GMT
Victim of racist Chelsea fans wants them ‘found, punished and locked up’
The black passenger prevented from getting on the Paris metro by Chelsea fans singing a racist chant has said he will make a police complaint.
The passenger, named by Le Parisien only as Souleymane S, told the paper he hadn’t watched the footage published by the Guardian on Tuesday night because he lost his phone in the altercation with the Chelsea supporters. But, shown the video by Le Parisien, the 33-year-old married father of three said he would contact French anti-racism associations and go to the police.
He had not told his family about the incident, he said. “What would I have said to my children? That daddy was pushed off the metro because he was black? That’s pointless.”
A Frenchman of Mauritanian origin, Souleymane S was born in Paris and grew up in the Val-d’Oise area outside the city. He works in a company near Richelieu-Drouot metro station where the incident happened on Tuesday night. He told Le Parisien: “I wanted to get on to the carriage, but a group of English supporters blocked me and pushed me back. I tried to force a gap and get on. In the scrum, I lost my phone.
“They were saying things to me in English but I didn’t really understand what they were saying. I don’t speak a word of English.”
He added: “I understood they were Chelsea fans and made the link with the PSG match that night. I also understood very well that they were targeting me because of the colour of my skin.
“You know, I live with racism; I wasn’t really surprised at what happened to me, even if it was the first time in the metro.”
He said he “faced them down for a long time”.
“Afterwards someone came and said to me that I’d been brave to resist people like that. In my view, the incident lasted around six or seven minutes. After a while transport staff intervened, but only to ensure there wasn’t a fight. Their objective was to get the transport moving again.
“No passenger came to my defence, but in any case what could one have done? Then the train moved on and I waited for the next one.
“I got home and didn’t mention the incident to anyone, neither my wife nor my children ... And what would I have said to my children? That daddy was pushed off the metro because he was black? That’s pointless.”
Shown the video by Le Parisien, he said: “I didn’t know I was filmed. The fact that I’m talking about it now gives me courage to go to the police and file a complaint ... These people, these English fans should be found, punished and locked up. What happened should not go unpunished.”
By Angelique Chrisafis, Guardian
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tellmema
Monster Midfielder
Posts: 1,398
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Post by tellmema on Feb 19, 2015 10:48:26 GMT
Disgusting and if it was a small club they'd be getting kicked out but it's different for Chelsea. Everything is different for Chelsea.
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Post by Premier League News on Feb 19, 2015 14:59:00 GMT
QPR’s Chris Ramsey calls for authorities to ‘weed out’ racist Chelsea fans
QPR’s Chris Ramsey, currently the Premier League’s only black manager, has called upon the authorities to “weed out” the racists who were caught on camera in the Paris Métro on their way to watch Chelsea in the Champions League.
Amateur footage obtained by the Guardian showed Chelsea football fans preventing a black man from boarding the train, forcefully pushing him back onto the platform at Paris’ Richelieu-Drouot station prior to the match on Tuesday night. The fans are then seen to chant: ‘We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.’
The victim, named as Souleymane S, has since called for the Chelsea fans to be ‘found, punished and locked up.’
“Chelsea is a massive club and do good things in the community and I feel sorry that they have been tarnished with this brush - sometimes you can’t control what people do in their personal lives,” Ramsey said. “I don’t believe that they are Chelsea fans. I don’t believe that they are fans of football. They are acting in a manner we all think is a thing of the past.
QPR manager Chris Ramsey QPR manager Chris Ramsey admitted he had frequently been the victim of racism in football since starting his career in 1978. Photograph: BPI/Rex
“I wouldn’t be blaming Chelsea Football Club for that. People with those views they are intrinsic in every day life. As much as it is something that has happened in football, these are really social issues that manifest themselves in the real world. We look at football being the be all and end all of sorting out social problems but social problems just infiltrate football.
Ramsey admitted he had been on the end on racism in football numerous times. “A lot,” he said. “I started in 1978 so take from that what you may. Things were very, very different and through the eighties, nineties and up to now. Racism is not something that gets eradicated, it gets shuffled about and hidden in places you wouldn’t believe. I don’t want to go into the details.
“I want to focus on what happened in that situation in Paris so everyone shines a spotlight on that and that doesn’t happen again. It would be good to know what the authorities are going to do to weed these people out and what sanctioned they will enforce to make this an avoidable situation in the future.”
Ramsey praised the passenger at Richelieu-Drouot station who filmed the abuse on his mobile phone. “It is a very brave person, someone who is thinking about the consequences about what could have been in that situation. I would encourage people to make sure that the perpetrators are known and try to eradicate it,” he says.
By Amy Lawrence, Guardian
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