Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, has insisted that Enzo Fernández had “no bad intentions” when he made the offensive chants about French players.

The Argentina midfielder celebrated his country’s Copa América success by posting a clip of his team-mates singing a racist and homophobic song about the heritage of some French players.

Fernandez is currently on holiday and has since apologised for the incident.

Chelsea have however initiated an internal disciplinary procedure and in a statement said they “acknowledge and appreciate our player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate.”

Speaking to ESPN in the US, Maresca claimed team spirit has not been damaged at Stamford Bridge.

He said: “I don’t think there are any bad intentions behind [it] so starting from that point, for me it is quite easy. The player already did a statement apologising.

“The club did the same so there are not many things to add but the only thing I can say from my point of view is that they are all young with good intentions. Good guy, good person, good human being. There was not any bad intention.”

Last updated on September 7th, 2024 at 05:53 am