France: Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez has issued an apology for the racist chants he and his teammates used for the France football team players during their Copa America title celebration. A video went viral on social media from Enzo’s Instagram Live where the Argentina team is celebrating their Copa America triumph after a 1-0 win over Colombia in the final on July 14 in Miami. The video featured a song by some of the Argentina squad about France’s players.
Enzo didn’t make any excuse for the racist comments he and his other teammates made in the viral video and said that they were caught up in the euphoria of celebrations.
“I want to apologise sincerely for a video posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations. The song included highly offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words,” Fernandez wrote on his Instagram story.
“I stand against discrimination in all forms and apologise for getting caught up in the euphoria of our celebrations. That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry,” he wrote further.
Meanwhile, the French Football Federation (FFF) has decided to file a complaint to the global governing body FIFA, stating that the viral video included an alleged “racist and discriminatory” chant.
“Faced with the seriousness of these shocking remarks, contrary to the values of sport and human rights, the president of the FFF decided to directly appeal to his Argentinian counterpart and FIFA and to file a legal complaint for racially offensive and discriminatory remarks,” the FFF said.
The derogatory chants single out French players of African heritage, from several countries, and holding a French passport.
“The president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, condemns in the strongest terms the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks made against the players of the France team as part of a song sung by players and supporters of the Argentina team,” the FFF added.
Enzo seems to have started losing support from his Chelsea teammates as one of the Blues stars and France international Welsey Fofana commented on the video on social media platform X, writing: “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.” The comment was accompanied by a clip from the video.
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