New Queens Park Rangers manager Chris Ramsey, the only black manager in the Premier League, said he felt sorry for Chelsea after the club’s name was tarnished this week.
Video images of Souleymane S., a 33-year-old married father of three, being abused by Chelsea supporters on the Paris Metro on Tuesday night caused outrage around the world.
Ramsey said: “I don’t believe that they are Chelsea fans,” he said today. “I don’t believe they’re football fans. I believe that they’re acting in a manner which we all thought was a thing of the past, but I won’t blame Chelsea Football Club for that. If you have people with those views, they’re intrinsic in everyday life.
“It will be good to see what the football authorities do to weed these people out. We know Chelsea are a massive club and do a lot of work in the community.
“I feel sorry that they’ve been tarnished with this brush, this situation, sometimes you can’t control what people do in their personal lives. These are social issues that manifest in the football world.”
However, Ramsey said the spotlight was on Chelsea after they stood by captain John Terry when he was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 for racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.
“I would say there is a spotlight on them because of that, how that was handled I wouldn’t want to expand on now. That was dealt with one way or another and this is a different issue. We know Chelsea are a multi-cultural club and has players from all over the world. I don’t believe they can take the blame for individuals.”
