Chelsea say young players were subjected to racist abuse in Qarabag

Chelsea have condemned alleged racist abuse from at least one Karabakh fan in an academy match in Azerbaijan.

Striker Sol Gordon (17 years old) opened the scoring in the 57th minute at Azerson Stadium in Baku and celebrated the goal close to a section of fans who ran to confront the players in the match, which witnessed a small attendance.

Eyewitnesses told BBC Sport they saw and heard the monkeys’ movements.

The match was stopped for a few minutes as the players complained to Ukrainian referee Dmytro Kubriak, and the coaching staff, including coach Callum McFarlane, participated in the discussions.

It seemed that Chelsea might stop playing the match, but they continued playing after the stop and won 5-0.

Winger Jesse Dery, who was booked for celebrating in front of the home team’s fans in a provocative manner, scored two goals, as substitutes Shem Mihioka and Frankie Runham sealed the victory.

Chelsea said in a statement: “We are aware of the incident that occurred during today’s match in the UEFA Youth Champions League in Azerbaijan, where a number of our players were subjected, after scoring, to racist abuse from a member of the public.”

“Racism and all forms of discriminatory behavior are completely unacceptable and have no place in football or in society. We strongly condemn the actions of the individual responsible.”

“Our players have the full support of everyone at the club and we immediately raised the incident with the UEFA Match Representative and the host club: we expect this matter to be fully investigated under UEFA’s disciplinary procedures.

“We are proud of the way our players and staff responded to the incident on the pitch, quickly reporting it to the referee, and we commend those who dealt with the matter professionally and appropriately in line with UEFA protocols.

A Qarabag spokesman quickly moved to say “sorry”, expressing surprise at the incident, saying it “does not represent the club’s values”, and promising a “thorough” investigation in due course.

The UEFA Disciplinary Body will respond to the referee’s report before making any decision.

Chelsea now sits at the top of the Youth League table with four wins from four matches.