Chelsea condemn anti-Semitic chants at Europa League

Székesfehérvár: Chelsea say fans who sang an antiSemitic chant in the Europa League game with MOL Vidi have “shamed the club”.

A vocal minority chanted offensive songs about Tottenham fans early in Thursday’s 2-2 draw in Hungary. That came days after four fans were suspended for allegedly racially abusing Raheem Sterling. “Anti-Semitism and any kind of racial or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans,” a spokesman said.

“It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities.”

Uefa said it will await the referee’s report before deciding on whether any action will be taken. Willian and Olivier Giroud scored free-kicks for Chelsea, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, in their draw in Budapest.

“Any individuals that can’t summon the brainpower to comprehend this simple message and are found to have shamed the club by used using anti-Semitic or racist words or actions will face the strongest possible action from the club,” the spokesman added. Press Association journalist Matt McGeehan said the chanting could be heard clearly in the stadium.

“It was very early in the match,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It was a chant that Chelsea supporters have done in the past and it references Tottenham supporters using the ‘y’ word, the anti-Semitic derogatory word about Jewish people.

“I understand that Chelsea are angry from the top to the bottom of the club - the very top actually because owner Roman Abramovich is Jewish.

“They are furious. Not just that this has happened again to their club but because of the proximity to the incident last Saturday with Sterling.”