Three men sought in connection with an alleged racist incident involving Chelsea football fans on a Paris Métro train have been identified.A Metropolitan police spokesman said the force had spoken to the men and was liaising with the French authorities.
None of the men sought by Scotland Yard has been arrested as the force cannot detain people over alleged offences outside the UK. If brought to trial in France, the suspects could face a three-year prison sentence and €45,000 (£33,300) fine.
Brendon Batson, a Professional Footballers’ Association trustee, has called for assault charges to be brought against the men.
“This guy on the Paris Métro was assaulted, he was pushed violently a couple of times, and I think if there are any criminal laws to be enforced then that should be done as well,” he told BBC Radio 5’s Sportsweek programme.
“I think there’s a totally different behaviour [when fans go abroad] because they know they can’t get away with it over here, that’s for sure.”
Scotland Yard released images of the men they believed they were among a group of supporters who allegedly pushed a black man called Souleymane, preventing him from boarding a train while chanting: “We’re racist and that’s the way we like it.”
The club has reiterated its promise to ban for life anyone proved to have been involved in the incident and is helping police in the UK and Paris. The Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, said the club was appalled by the racial abuse, and that its owner, Roman Abramovich, was also disgusted.
The Met police had appealed for the public’s help in identifying the trio after releasing images taken at Richelieu-Drouot Métro station on 17 February. The incident, which occurred ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League game against Paris St Germain, was captured in mobile phone footage and sent to the Guardian.
Chelsea has suspended five supporters from attending matches after conducting its own investigations. Mourinho said the club would be writing to Souleymane to apologise and invite him to attend the return game against the French champions on 11 March.
Souleymane told the French newspaper Le Parisien: “I appreciate Mr Mourinho’s invitation, but I can’t get my head around being in a stadium at the moment.”
In an interview with the Guardian, Souleymane said: “What happened has left me really afraid. I just want justice to be done, no more than that. I was a little bit hurt physically but in terms of morale I was hurt a lot. It has really affected my life. I can’t go back into the Métro, it makes me really afraid.
The former England defender Rio Ferdinand said the Fifa and Uefa football authorities had “let football down” by failing to eradicate racism.
He wrote on Twitter on Saturday that complacency had allowed racism to prevail and reiterated those comments in a column for the Sun on Sunday.
He also wrote, however: “To be fair to the (Football Association), they have done more than most to try to eradicate racism from the stands. We are the standard-bearers. It’s not like going to parts of eastern Europe when you would be thinking to yourself ‘what are we going to get here?’ Even those people who are racists here tend to go into a stadium and turn the mute button on for 90 minutes.”
By Mark Tran, Guardian
