Chelsea star posts support messages for Enzo Fernandez after racist video
Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has sent two messages of support to Enzo Fernandez after the midfielder posted a video of his Argentina teammates singing a racist song. The Premier League club have have opened an ‘internal disciplinary procedure’ after Fernandez filmed his Argentina teammates singing a racist song about France after their Copa America win at the weekend.
Argentina’s players were celebrating on their team bus following their 1-0 win against Colombia in the Copa America final on Sunday when Fernandez was broadcasting a live video on Instagram. During Fernandez’s broadcast, Argentina’s players could be heard singing the first two lines of the song, ‘on passport, French nationality, listen, spread the word, they play in France, but they are all…’, before someone is heard saying, ‘cut the video’.
The racist and transphobic chant, which was first sung by Argentina supporters during the 2022 World Cup, claims that France’s players are ‘all from Angola’ and makes a vile reference to a reported relationship between Kylian Mbappe and transgender model Ines Rau.
The full lyrics to the song are: ‘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.’
Fernandez plays alongside several black French teammates at Chelsea including Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Christopher Nkunku and Lesley Ugochukwu. On Tuesday evening, Fofana shared the video on X with the caption: ‘Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.’ But Jackson has shown his support for Fernandez with two posts on Instagram on Wednesday. In the first post, Jackson posted a video of Fernandez interacting with a black child who was wearing a Chelsea shirt.
In his second post, Jackson posted a picture of himself sitting next to Fernandez during a training session with Chelsea last season. Fernandez, 23, has since apologised for the video in a post on Instagram. ‘I want to apologise sincerely for a video posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations,’ Fernandez wrote in his message.
‘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 beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry.’
The French Football Federation has also vowed to file a complaint to FIFA over ‘racist and discriminatory remarks’ by Argentina players. ‘FIFA is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into,’ a FIFA spokesperson said on Wednesday. ‘FIFA strongly condemns any form of discrimination by anyone including players, fans and officials.’ Fernandez was signed by Chelsea in a €121 million (£106.8m) deal from Benfica in January 2023.
