Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has voiced his support for team-mate Enzo Fernandez after the midfielder filmed himself chanting a “racist” slogan during the Copa America celebrations in Argentina.
The Argentine star and several of his teammates sang a controversial song about French players being ‘from Angola’ or having a ‘Nigerian’ mother and a ‘Cameroonian’ father.
The Chelsea player was subsequently accused of ‘rampant racism’ by his France team-mate Wesley Fofana, with a number of other Blues players unfollowing Fernandez on social media.
Jackson decided not to do so, however, and defended his under-fire colleague via Instagram. His initial message did raise some eyebrows, however.
The clip shared by the Senegal international showed Fernandez interacting with a young black child at the end of one of the Blues’ pre-season games last summer. Jackson captioned the video: “Enzo Fernandez and this young fan,” followed by two pleading face emojis.
Enzo Fernandez filmed a video of the Argentina team chanting a racist slogan about France
Nicolas Jackson (right) has jumped to the defence of his under-fire team-mate, while others in the Chelsea squad have condemned his actions
The Senegal international posted a clip of the Argentina international interacting with a young black child during the Blues’ pre-season tour last summer
The post also included an image of black and white fists clashing, with a heart above them.
Jackson also posted a photo of himself and Fernandez sitting next to each other during a training session at the club’s Cobham base. The Argentine was seen smiling, while Jackson struck a stern pose in the photo.
The Senegalese star’s defence of his team-mate came as a surprise given the reaction of the other players in the Chelsea squad.
Sources close to the players have revealed that Chelsea’s French squad are furious with Fernandez.
Chelsea have a host of French players in their squad, including Fofana, Malo Gusto, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile.
Fofana, Disasi and Gusto have all unfollowed Fernandez on Instagram.
Defender Fofana has since been the target of gross racist abuse on social media after publicly condemning the song.
Fernandez himself posted his apology on Tuesday evening, albeit with a delay, writing: ‘I would like to apologize for a video I posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations.
Jackson also posted a photo of the pair during a Chelsea training session to his Instagram Story on Wednesday morning
Fernandez apologized late Tuesday night, saying he was “against discrimination in any form”
Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana (centre), who also plays for France, expressed his disgust at the video. He is one of three Blues players Fernandez unfollowed on Instagram
“The song contains very offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words. I am against discrimination in any form and I apologize for having been caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations.
“That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry.”
The song was first sung around the 2022 World Cup, when Argentina defeated France on penalties in the final in Qatar.
The match had already descended into chaos as Kylian Mbappé was the target of fierce insults from Emiliano Martinez, despite the French striker scoring a hat-trick and winning a penalty in the shootout.
Chelsea released a statement following the video posted by their midfielder on Wednesday morning, condemning “all forms” of discriminatory behaviour and confirming that they had initiated disciplinary proceedings.
“Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable. We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome,” the club said.
Chelsea confirmed in their statement that they have started an internal disciplinary procedure
Axel Disasi (left) is the other Chelsea player to unfollow Fernandez after he filmed the Argentine chant
‘We acknowledge and appreciate our player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to inform ourselves.
‘The Club has initiated an internal disciplinary procedure.’
The reason for Chelsea’s delay in publicly responding to the video was that they wanted to speak to Fernandez to verify his comments. The recent Euro tournament saw a rise in fake AI-generated footage, such as that of Gareth Southgate.