Chelsea to conduct a probe into incident
a man in a blue top — who is believed to be known to Chelsea and the police — calling Sterling a ‘f ****** black c***’. Chelsea have told City the fan will be permanently banned from Stamford Bridge if firm evidence of racist abuse is provided.
Yesterday, Chelsea were conducting their own investigation and are believed to have asked BT Sport, who were covering the game, for all camera angles of the incident. The broadcaster will also check pitchside microphones in case an audio record of the abuse exists.
Sterling was spoken to by City’s security personnel before the team left Stamford Bridge, and his version of events was passed on to Chelsea and the police. It is believed this information sparked the visit to Manchester.
The incident has provoked considerable debate with former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand calling for a protest, similar to Colin Kaepernick’s decision to take the knee during the national anthem at NFL matches.
Ferdinand posted: ‘Are we going to continue to allow this type of racist behaviour go on? All for kicking a ball. In the NFL the players took to the knee...’
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright admitted he feared a return to the days when black players were targeted by racists in the crowd.
‘The bad old days are back,’ said Wright. ‘Chelsea you have been shamed by this disgusting racist fan. Absolutely no doubt about what he says.’
Sterling’s criticism of newspaper and website coverage also provoked lengthy debate. He used examples of two stories reported differently about young City players (one about Phil Foden in this newspaper and another published by MailOnline news about Tosin Adarabioyo).
He wrongly alleges the difference was racially motivated.
He said: ‘All I have to say is, have a second thought about fair publicity and give all players an equal chance.’
Piers Morgan said: ‘I’ve seen no difference in the way Sterling is treated (good & bad) to white football stars like Gazza, Beckham & George Best.’
Ferdinand replied: ‘Comparing Raheem Sterling to Beckham, Best & Rooney is off the mark. The reasons for the spotlight and derogatory press they received compared to Raheem are like night and day.’
The author of the MailOnline story, Anthony Joseph, responded by writing on Twitter: ‘The story was done at a time when BT had a documentary on teenage footballers earning millions. It was topical and there was a huge debate about it. I spoke to the player’s agent, who had no issue with how it was represented. Reporters don’t do headlines, but I still don’t feel it vilifies him. It was just topical at the time. Nor did I even make a connection of his colour — it didn’t even cross my mind.’
Mr Joseph was racially abused on social media as a result of his response.
He later added: ‘The colour of my skin doesn’t affect how I think/ write. And the colour of someone else’s skin doesn’t even enter my head when I talk to them/write about them. As trivial as the story was, it was topical at the time.’