Chelsea, Mourinho condemn fans involved in Paris Metro incident, invite victim to London

To kick off Friday's pre-match press conference, Chelsea FC read aloud a statement which they'd prepared in advance, addressing the disgusting events on the Paris Metro this past Tuesday. The statement in full:

On behalf of the owner, the board and everybody at Chelsea Football Club, we would like to make it clear our disgust with regard to the incident that took place on the Paris Metro on Tuesday evening.

We were appalled by what we saw. The club would also like to apologise unreservedly to Souleymane for the behaviour of a small number of individuals and their unforgiveable actions towards him.

We have been cooperating fully with the Metropolitan Police and the Paris Police in the ongoing investigation and we will continue to do so. We have also been conducting our own investigation and all information from that is being shared with those police forces.

We announced last night we have suspended three individuals from Stamford Bridge pending the conclusion of our investigation. Should evidence show that they are guilty in that incident then the club will ban them for life.

It is only right that we complete our investigation to establish all of the facts of that evening but we have taken swift and decisive action from the information we have received so far.

The people involved in that incident in Paris do not represent Chelsea Football Club. They do not stand for the values of this club and they have no place at this club. This has been echoed loud and clear by the vast majority of Chelsea supporters. We would like to thank the many Chelsea fans who have come forward with information in this case.

We are a club that is proud of its diversity. We work extremely hard in the game and in our communities to promote equality and fight discrimination of all forms. We are proud to support the work of Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card and other organisations, and we work closely with similar programmes with the Premier League, the FA and others.

Jose Mourinho also addressed the incident during his pre-match comments:

"My feeling is the feeling of everyone at this club. We feel very sorry. We want to fight it. We feel ashamed and we want to apologise to this gentleman."

"We feel ashamed but maybe we shouldn't because I refuse to be connected with these people. I am connected with Chelsea and so many good things this club defends and represents."

"I left Chelsea in 2007 and I couldn't wait for the moment to be back and it is not because of people like this that I wanted to be back. So yes I feel ashamed when I knew what happened but I am a proud Chelsea football club manager because i know what this club is and these people don't represent Chelsea football club."

When asked about the players' response, Mourinho said the following:

"The reaction of the players is the same as we all had. "I have a squad at Chelsea with 12 or 14 players with African nationality or connections and all over these years. This dressing room, even without me here because it didn't depend on who the manager was, was always one with big principles of equality. We had everything. Not just race but religion. Everything, absolutely everything. So they reacted the same way as I did - with disappointment."

"Condemning the situation and supporting the gentleman involved but also with the feeling we are ashamed. But maybe we shouldn't be because we are not this. These people don't belong to Chelsea Football Club. So yes condemn. Our club has no space for these people."

The club have also invited the victim to London, so that he and his family would have the chance to take in a Chelsea game and see that the idiots on the Metro aren't actually representative of the club or the majority of Blues fans.