Rodrigo De Paul criticizes Chelsea players for unfollowing Enzo Fernandez over racist video
Rodrigo De Paul has slammed Chelsea players for unfollowing Enzo Fernandez after the Argentine midfielder filmed his teammates singing a racist song following their Copa America victory.
De Paul called out Chelsea’s players for publicly exposing Fernandez instead of addressing the issue privately.
Fernandez’s Instagram live broadcast captured Argentina’s players singing a song with racist and transphobic lyrics targeting French players.
The song, which first appeared during the 2022 World Cup, included derogatory references to Kylian Mbappe and others. Chelsea and FIFA have both launched investigations into the incident.
Several of Fernandez’s Chelsea teammates, including Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, and Axel Disasi, responded by unfollowing him on social media. Fofana also shared the video on X, captioning it, “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.”
Here is Enzo Fernandez and Argentina players celebrating that Copa America win by singing that racist France chant from the 2022 World Cup pic.twitter.com/pxoaX2MApE
— GC (@ValverdeSZN) July 15, 2024
De Paul, who shares the pitch with Fernandez for Argentina, defended his compatriot. He suggested that the Chelsea players should have handled the matter privately.
“If a person feels offended, the way to do it is to call him, not expose him on social media,” De Paul said in an interview. He criticized the public reaction, describing it as malicious and unnecessary.
De Paul emphasized that addressing the issue directly would have been more effective. “You call him and say, ‘listen, I think we might feel affected by this, why don’t you post a message apologizing to the people,’ and the subject ends there,” he added.
The controversy has sparked widespread debate about racism in football and the appropriate ways to address such incidents.
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