Chelsea have pledged to take the “strongest action” after an alleged racist incident against Son Heung-min in Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Tottenham.
South Korea forward Son is alleged to have been racially abused by a member of the crowd at Stamford Bridge in Sunday’s top-flight clash.
Chelsea have previously handed out life bans to supporters found guilty of racial abuse at Stamford Bridge.
Club statement on racist abuse.— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 18, 2022
The Blues took their latest initiative in the long-running No To Hate campaign before Sunday’s Spurs clash, taking steps to make it easier for spectators to report alleged abuses.
The back of every seat at Stamford Bridge now has instructions on how to report incidents of abuse, either by text or by barcode on a smartphone.
Chelsea believe that identifying a specific seat from which incidents either happen or are reported will help increase the chances of individuals being caught.
“Chelsea Football Club finds any form of discriminatory behaviour totally abhorrent. It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities,” read a Chelsea statement.
“Chelsea FC has consistently made its zero tolerance position on discriminatory behaviour very clear, yet there are still idiots like this that attach themselves to this club as so called ‘fans’, which shames Chelsea FC, our coaches, players, staff and our true supporters.
“We are investigating this incident and, if identified, this individual will face the strongest action from the club.”
Anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out commended Chelsea for their response.
A statement from Troy Townsend, our Head of Player Engagement, after an alleged racist incident during the Chelsea vs Spurs game last Sunday 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/PK59s8bgFr— Kick It Out (@kickitout) August 18, 2022
A statement from their head of player engagement Troy Townsend said: “Whilst we cannot comment on the specifics of this case while investigations are ongoing, we reiterate that racism must not be tolerated in our game or anywhere in our society.
“We commend Chelsea for acting swiftly and we hope to see appropriate action taken against anyone involved.
“Racism has no place in football and we will continue to work tirelessly with clubs, their players and the authorities to eliminate it from the game.”
