Chelsea fans air out their feelings after an incident in the Paris Metro last Tuesday when five Chelsea fans refused to let a black passenger from boarding the train and were yelling racist remarks
The situation escalated to the point where the Chelsea football club admonished the violent behaviour of their fans and threatened to ban the five men from attending any games for life.
Nikolay Ivanov, who is a founder of the second biggest Chelsea fan group on Facebook with 4, 215members, the largest after the Chelsea official page , expressed serious concerns about the representation of the Chelsea fans following the disrespectful manners of those involved in the Paris Metro.
“I would define this as an act of people who are ‘fake fans’, if you love your team, you would never do anything that damages the face of the club. These people do not go to the stadium to enjoy football; they go to abuse and ruin the football culture,’’ Ivanov said.
The members of the Facebook group are certain that they do not support this kind of action, because as Chelsea fans they need to uphold the reputation and values of the club.
“Chelsea is one of the most popular clubs and once you have got to our stadium, you will see posters against racism, our players are wearing stamps on their kits and the club is participating in anti-racism campaigns,” says Ivanov.
Ivanov also claims the act of racism shows disrespect toward the Chelsea players.
“Some of the great legends of the club are coming from different backgrounds, so I believe that this offends them and us as fans,” says Ivanov.
However, Ivanov is convinced that this is a fight that Chelsea cannot lead on its own; they need the support of the whole football culture and authorities.
