Chelsea FC midfielder Enzo Fernandez has been the subject of heavy criticism following the incident after Argentina’s Copa America win. The Argentina national team recently won their second consecutive Copa America trophy. A shameful incident in the national team bus overshadowed their celebrations.
Enzo started live streaming the ongoing celebrations from his Instagram account. The Argentina players sang racist chants and transphobic slurs. The chants took a dig at the French players of having African heritage.
They mocked the French players for their multi-ethnic roots and threw nasty remarks at Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe. They aimed transphobic slurs at him due to his relationship with trans model Ines Rau.
The Blues consist of many French players of African descent. Christopher Nkunku, Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, and Benoit Badiashile reportedly feel displeased with their teammate. Many of them have unfollowed Enzo over social media. This is a modern day version of boycotting someone.
Wesley Fofana took to social media to express his displeasure. He accused football in 2024 of being unrestrictedly racist.
Chelsea face several problems following the Enzo Fernandez fiasco
There are rumours of a rift among the team. The French players having unfollowed the Argentinian international have clearly showed their stance on the situation.
The Chelsea manager will need to fix relationships among Enzo and the French players before their pre-season tour. He will be desperate to make things right and unite the squad to avoid another bad pre-season tour and the disastrous season following afterwards.
Chelsea’s previous seasons have followed a similar trend. In 2022, relationships broke down between Thomas Tuchel and new owner Todd Boehly. After the departure of their sporting director, Boehly took on the role of being the interim sporting director. Tuchel had to take up larger responsibilities in the transfers, a role that the Bavarian did not want. He questioned the club’s transfer activities and clashed with the owner over several transfers. After a 4-0 defeat to rivals Arsenal, Tuchel publicly criticized the quality of the squad resulting in his departure.
Muricio Pochettino was appointed as the permanent manager during the 2023/24 season after a disappointing season under Graham Potter. Several pre-season injuries set a bad tone for the following season, unsettling Pochettino’s plans. As a result the blues had another bad season even after splashing big money in the transfer windows.
Enzo has issued an apology on social media concerning his actions. He has apologized privately to several of his Chelsea teammates as well.
He is scheduled to join the team training by the end of July and will then find out if his teammates have forgiven him.
Chelsea have issued their own statement regarding the incident. They are going to take strict disciplinary actions against Enzo Fernandez. They have acknowledged his apology as well. According to Chelsea News will not face any harsh punishment, he will be fined.
French Federation are taking strict actions
The FFF(French Football Federation) have taken legal action and filed a complaint against the Argentina Football Association. They have issued statements about taking AFA and FIFA to court for racial discrimination and shameful abuse. FFF President is yet to issue any statements on the incident.
FIFA have started an investigation on AFA and the players involved following the complaint by FFF.
Enzo Fernandez faces further backlash due to River Plate fans singing the same disrespectful chant during his return to his former club. The verdicts on his punishment are set to be announced soon by both Chelsea and FIFA.
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