Earlier today, a video of Chelsea “fans” singing a racist song against Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah made the rounds on Twitter. We’re not going to embed it here as to not give such vile behaviour any increased platform, which Twitter should be doing as well if they actually want to stay true to their actions to curb hate speech.
As shameful and disgusting that video was, Chelsea as least acted swiftly to try to deal with the matter as best possible. The six individuals who could be identified, thanks to them proudly displaying their ignorant faces, were barred from entering the match tonight in Prague.
Only three showed up, but they will also “face further action” from the club.
The other three didn't show up. None of the Mohamed Salah racist fans are in the stadium here.
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) April 11, 2019
Chelsea also released a statement condemning the discriminatory behaviour, and reiterating the club’s zero tolerance policy.
Chelsea FC finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour abhorrent and where there is clear evidence of Chelsea season ticket holders or members involved in such behaviour, we will take the strongest possible action against them.
Such individuals are an embarrassment to the vast majority of Chelsea supporters who won’t tolerate them in their club.
-Source: Chelsea FC
Liverpool also released a statement and are working with Chelsea ahead of this weekend’s match at Anfield.
The video circulating online, showing vile discriminatory chants being aimed at one of our players, is dangerous and disturbing.
Already this season, we have seen repulsive discriminatory abuse inside stadiums in England, Europe and across the world; abuse that was captured on devices and put into the public domain. We have also witnessed numerous hateful attacks on social media.
This behaviour needs to be called out for what it is - unadulterated bigotry.
Liverpool Football Club believes it is the responsibility of those in positions of authority, following proper process, to act urgently to identify and then punish anyone committing a hate crime.
There is no place for this behaviour in football, there is no place for it in society. A crime of this nature has more victims than any individual it is aimed at and, as such, collective and decisive action is needed to address it.
As pertains to this latest incident, the club is working with Merseyside Police to ascertain the facts around this footage with the aim of identifying individuals featuring in it.
In addition, we are working directly with Chelsea Football Club on the matter. We thank them for their condemnation and a commitment to act urgently to identify any individuals responsible.
-source: Liverpool FC
This may not solve the structural racism that stains our society, but fighting against is the least we can do whenever these abhorrent actions bubble to the surface, which unfortunately seems to be happening more and more frequently.
We join Chelsea, Liverpool, and all others in condemning this vile behaviour. We will not tolerate any such acts, words, songs, or behaviour here either.