A Chelsea fan has been issued a life long ban from the club, after an investigation on last December’s game against Manchester City revealed the accused had racially abused Raheem Sterling during the match.
The club officials used two professional lip readers to analyse the behaviour of some agitated fans during the ongoing match, and confirmed that six of them had thrown derogatory slang at Sterling during play.
One of the accused has been issued a permanent ban from the club’s home fixtures, and the rest five have faced a two year ban.
Following the prosecution, Chelsea issued a statement on their official website.
The statement read as follows:
“We understand that this incident has been the subject of discussion amongst supporters, and the club appreciates that emotions can run high during matches. However, in this case the behaviour of all six individuals crossed the line of what is acceptable.”
“Furthermore, in the case of the supporter who was found by the club to have used racially abusive language, there is no place for this behaviour at Stamford Bridge and a permanent exclusion was the appropriate sanction.”
“Given the particular circumstances of this case, the club did not consider that attendance at an education course in return for a reduced sanction would have been appropriate.”
The Blues are known for their intolerance of racism and any other discriminatory behaviour against footballers, previously banning four supporters last year for the same reason.
“We are clear and consistent in our condemnation of discriminatory behaviour and language and all fans should remember that their words and actions can cause offence to those around them and to the wider community.”
“We will continue to work with our supporters to rid the game of all forms of discrimination.”
Frank Lampard, the Chelsea boss pleaded to the supporters to go against using discriminatory terms, following the anti West Ham chants heard on the match against Reading last Sunday.
Chelsea Football Club has issued sanctions against six people regarding their behaviour during our match against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on 8 December 2018.https://t.co/I5RTndQ1CI
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 30, 2019
