The Chelsea football club has vowed to ban fans involved in a racist incident after a smart phone video showed Chelsea fans preventing a black man from boarding a train whilst yelling, “We’re racist, we’re racist, and that’s the way we like it.”
The controversial video shows rowdy Chelsea fans pushing a black man off a Metro train at the Richelieu-Drouot station in Paris and preventing him from boarding. The fans were on their way to the Parc des Princes for a match with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Police in Paris announced that they were opening an investigation of the incident and British authorities pledged to assist in that inquiry.
Chelsea denounces the thuggish behavior.
“Such behaviour is abhorrent and has no place in football or society,” the football club said in a statement.
“We will support any criminal action against those involved in such behaviour, 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,” the statement continued.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter also released a statement denouncing the incident. Blatter also commented on Twiter.
Still, not everyone thinks the incident was fueld by racism. Some think that the black man was disrespected because he was a fan of the rival soccer team.
“People were saying it was because he was black. It’s not true at all. I personally think it’s because he was a PSG fan. Obviously they didn’t want him anywhere with us,” said Chelsea fan Mitchell McCoy.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com