Enzo Fernández has apologised to his Chelsea teammates in a private message after he was caught on video chanting racist and homophobic slurs about members of the France team.
Fernández, who was signed from Benfica for a British record fee of £106.8m in January 2023, is expected to be fined and sent on a racism education course. Chelsea said they had “instigated an internal disciplinary procedure” against him.
The midfielder posted a video on Instagram that showed him and his Argentina teammates involved in the chants as they celebrated their victory against Colombia in the Copa América final. He later apologised, saying the video did not “reflect my beliefs or my character”.
Fernández’s Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana – who won his first senior cap for France last year – criticised the “uninhibited racism” in the video. He and a number of other Chelsea players have unfollowed Fernández on Instagram. It is understood a message from Fernández was distributed on Wednesday to all members of Chelsea’s first-team squad in which he apologised again.
Fernández is not due to return for pre-season training for another fortnight and the new manager, Enzo Maresca, potentially faces a difficult task to integrate the 23-year-old back into his squad.
David Datro Fofana, who spent last season on loan at Burnley, appeared to criticise the video in an Instagram story posted on Wednesday – after Fernández’s apology to the squad. He wrote: “The football that I like is multi-ethnic. Racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. These acts have no place in football or even anywhere else. This fight really needs to be taken seriously by everyone in this sport.”
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Fifa is investigating the video after the French Football Federation said it would file a legal complaint. “Fifa is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into,” a Fifa spokesperson said. “Fifa strongly condemns any form of discrimination.”
Chelsea 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.”
The Guardian did not receive a reply from Manchester City after an approach for comment regarding Rodri chanting “Gibraltar es español” (Gibraltar is Spanish) after Spain’s victory against England in the Euro 2024 final. The Gibraltar government said it would make a complaint to Uefa over the incident.
