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Reece James admits the race row that threatens to disrupt the start of Chelsea’s season is a “really difficult situation” but hopes face-to-face talks will help them “move forward”.
Enzo Fernandez’s posting of a video on social media shortly after Argentina’s Copa America win over Colombia on July 14 ignited the issue as it questioned the heritage of France’s black and mixed-race players.
And although he apologised, both FIFA and Chelsea have launched investigations, the former on the back of a complaint from the French Football Federation.
The 23-year-old will have some bridges to rebuild in the Stamford Bridge dressing room as well with his Chelsea team-mate Wesley Fofana describing the video as “uninhibited racism”, while it has also been reported the club’s other French players are equally unhappy.
It is an unwanted problem for new boss Enzo Maresca and captain James is aware there could be tension when Fernandez joins up with the squad on Monday on their pre-season tour of the United States.
He told ESPN: “Of course, there’s always the factor where it doesn’t sit right with people when there could be a problem.
“But until the day comes where everyone’s together and in a room together, I don’t know, but I hope things can be resolved smoothly and we can move forward with the season.
“It’s a really difficult situation. There’s no room for racism or discrimination in football. I think he quickly put his hand up and acknowledged he’d done wrong and apologised to his team-mates, the club and the rest of the people that were offended. I think that was probably the best he could have done in that situation.
“I spoke to him a bit, but it was hard because we were on different time zones. [It was] just a general chat really. His views on what happened and him trying to explain his situation and how things happened.”
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— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/chelsea-captain-james-hoping-fernandez-talks-will-eradicate-squad-tension/
Author : Jon Fisher
Publish date : 2024-07-26 07:08:14
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