Enzo Fernandez apologises to Chelsea squad in person as Reece James and Axel Disasi help bury racism row

07/30/2024 06:00 AM

Enzo Fernandez apologised to the Chelsea squad in person after arriving at the club’s pre-season camp on Monday.

The midfielder, along with several Argentina players, was hugely criticised for singing a racist and discriminatory chant about France following his nation’s Copa America success.

Amid outrage from Chelsea’s French contingent, Fernandez issued a public and private apology, but the incident threw the 23-year-old’s future at the club into doubt.

An extended participation at the Copa America meant Fernandez was not scheduled to link up with Chelsea on their pre-season tour of America until Monday.

Upon arrival, talkSPORT understands Fernandez issued an immediate apology to his teammates, which was accepted.

It is thought that captain Reece James and French defender Axel Disasi have been key in helping to integrate Fernandez back into the squad.

The Argentina midfielder has already trained and had lunch with his teammates in the last 24 hours.

In acceptance of his mistake, Fernandez also pledged a meaningful contribution to an anti-discrimination charity, which will be matched by Chelsea.

talkSPORT understands the club consider the case to be closed and the squad are ready to move on.

Both Chelsea and FIFA launched an investigation into the chant which was first sung by Argentina fans at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but later adopted by members of the playing squad.

The song references how many of France’s players are of African heritage, with a translated version being: "They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French."

Fernandez’s critics included Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana, who described the video as ‘uninhibited racism’.

Fofana unfollowed Fernandez on social media, along with the rest of Chelsea’s French contingent Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku and Malang Sarr.

It also sparked a diplomatic row as the Argentinian undersecretary for sport, Julio Garro, left his position after suggesting Lionel Messi should apologise on behalf of the national team.

And talkSPORT’s Darren Bent previously argued that Fernandez will never patch things up some teammates.

"I remember doing a show a couple of months ago about Enzo's situation at Chelsea and how he's played and there was a comment about how I didn’t think he had been good enough," Bent told talkSPORT.

"I went to sleep and when I woke up there was a barrage of racist comments. I wasn't talking about his personality or him as a character, just simply him as a player. I can't tell you the amount of abuse that came through."

On the video in question Bent added: "It's not a good look for Enzo Fernandez at all, it’s really not.

"Before Wesley Fofana put that post on social media, I hope they [Chelsea teammates] would have contacted him first and asked the question of, 'what are you playing at?'

"But they'll never look at him the same ever again regardless of whether he puts out the sorrys and says I should never have done this.

"Even if he stands there in front of his Chelsea teammates and says, 'I'm deeply sorry for what I've done', they'll never ever look at him the same.

"In the moment, he's the one hosting the video. It's quite clear that this is not his first time singing this song and it's not their [Argentina squad] first time singing this song because they're all happy, all singing and they're all joyful because they've just won the Copa America.

"But at the same time, in that relaxed environment and it comes out as easy as it did, his teammates will never trust him the same way.”

Fernandez joined Chelsea from Benfica in January 2023 for a then-British record fee of £107million, although the fee could rise to £115m.

He is yet to fully justify his price tag after 62 appearances for the Blues, but he is undoubtedly a hugely valuable player for Argentina, playing a key role in both their Copa America and World Cup triumphs.

In his absence, Chelsea started life under new manager Enzo Maresca with a 2-2 draw with Wrexham and a 4-1 defeat to Celtic in the United States.

Maresca has previously insisted there will be no problem re-integrating Fernandez into the squad.

"I don't think so,” the Italian said when asked about the issue on July 24.

“They are all human beings. I don't think there are any bad intentions from any of them.

“I don't think when Enzo is back that we will have any situations. Enzo clarified the situation, the club the same, so there is nothing to add.

“They are not bad people or human beings. It can happen but I don't think there are any problems at all. I spoke with Enzo and all of them."