Maresca defends Fernández amid racist chant
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has said Enzo Fernández had “no bad intentions” behind his offensive chanting about French players and insisted team spirit has not been damaged at Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder celebrated Argentina’s Copa América success by posting a video of the squad singing a racist and homophobic song about the heritage of some French players.
Fernandez, 23, is currently on holiday and has since apologised while Chelsea have initiated an internal disciplinary procedure and released a statement in which they “acknowledge and appreciate our player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate.”
Chelsea are in the United States preparing for the first match of their five-game tour against Wrexham in Santa Clara on Wednesday and speaking exclusively to ESPN ahead of that match, Maresca said of the Fernandez incident.
“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 that I can add that they are all young with good intentions. Good guy, good person, good human being. There was not any bad intention.”
Fernandez’s Chelsea team-mate Wesley Fofana shared the video on ‘X’ with the words: “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.”
Fofana, a France international, is already part of the Chelsea squad in the United States while Fernandez is due to join the group on Monday.
Several of Fernandez’s teammates have unfollowed him on Instagram as a result.
Asked if he felt team spirit could be affected by the fallout from Fernandez’s outburst, Maresca said: “I don’t think so to be honest. Probably it is the immediate reaction.
“But all in all, I don’t think so. I spoke with Enzo but as I said, I spoke with all of them. The situation is quite clear. He did already a statement apologising, the club did the same so.”
