Chelsea defender, Wesley Fofana has spoken for the first time about the racial chants made by Enzo Fernandez and his Argentine teammates.
The French international was speaking to the press while on Chelsea's 2024 pre-season tour in the United States of America. Wesley Fofana confirmed that he knows that Enzo Fernandez is not racist but believes that the Argentine needs educating on why the chants were hurtful to the French players.
He said,
"You see Enzo is back and I’m happy, we talked together. I explained why I didn’t like the video. He explained. He said sorry because he did not want to hurt French fans or anyone. He did not understand when singing it. And I trust him. Because I know him. I know Enzo. He is not racist. It is just the video is bad. It’s not only Enzo. It’s the Argentinian team. Enzo is in the video but if he was from another country, I would have posted the same thing. For sure, it was a big story because we play in the same team. But now it is done, it’s good. I'm happy with this situation because he understands me, I understand him, he said sorry, I trust him, and that is the most important thing. Enzo is a big player in Argentina. I hope this has educated him a bit, because for sure, it is a different culture. We play for the same club and badge and train together. Now I understand him. He understands me. Everybody is happy."
He also spoke about the reaction of the remaining Chelsea players towards Fernandez.
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"We talked, all the team together. It was not only me and Enzo. It was everybody. We are in the same team and we need to go forward together. It is finished. We play together. We need to stay together. We're strong together. If I’m on one side and Enzo is on the other side and we fight every day or we don't talk or we're not happy, on the pitch then we don’t play well. That's not only me and Enzo. It's all the team. It is for that, that we talked. It’s a good club.’'
He continued,
I don't care about the money, He loses money. I don't want Enzo to lose money. The donation is good but the most important thing is not to repeat the act and that we educate everybody. He is an example because Enzo is a big player, a big star. He understands that and I’m happy like this. 'I don't think a big sanction for Enzo is a good process. We need to educate about this because cultures are different, a lot of countries. We don't have the same education, for good or bad. But we need to educate everybody if we don’t want a repeat.’'
Chelsea supporters will hope the players find a new path as they look to challenge for trophies when the 2024/25 season begins.
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