A former Chelsea striker has claimed Enzo Fernandez 'will never be forgiven at Stamford Bridge and must be sold'.
The Argentina midfielder has received heavy backlash for celebrations on a bus after his side beat Colombia 1-0 in the final of the competition to win their third major international trophy in a row.
Fernandez released a statement on social media on Tuesday stating he 'stands against discrimination in all forms' and that he apologises for 'getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations' after a video of members of the Argentina team on a bus went viral.
The statement came after a video appeared to show the Argentina players singing about how French players are 'from Angola' or have a 'Nigerian' mother and a 'Cameroonian' father.
Now, speaking on TalkSport, Tony Cascarino has said: 'It's going to be tricky. I look back at when I was at Chelsea in the 90s and I'm not sure that dressing room would be okay with what Enzo Fernandez did.
‘That’s a tricky one to handle. I think Chelsea have got a major decision on whether they actually keep Enzo Fernandez.
‘Having players not happy with a guy in the dressing room, I’m not sure there will be many that comfortable with some of the things that have gone on.
‘There’s no excuse for that to go out. It’s not going to sit well with the other players is it?
‘I don’t know how you can handle it because there will be players who can’t forgive. There might be some who can move on despite not liking what happened.
‘You don’t need everyone to like each other at a club but this is a really, really tricky one. Some players won’t want to move on or make it work.
‘He’s going to have to apologise to the squad face-to-face as well and maybe then there will be a bit more forgiveness.’
Recordings of Fernandez's video show the team seemingly at least singing the Angola portion of the song while he grins, though he ends it before they reach the part relating to Kylian Mbappe.
Fernandez had been filming before Argentina's players started singing the song but ended the Instagram live seconds after the racist chant began.
The song first emerged around the 2022 World Cup, when Argentina beat France in the final on penalties in Qatar.
Chelsea are conducting their own probe after the man they spent a British-record £107million on in January 2023 found himself at the centre of a storm. Sources at Chelsea say they are taking the matter seriously and will proceed accordingly.
ChelseaSpecialist
453
It is simple that whoever is offended by this doesn't like their origin
Kasbcdeisy
403
It is simple that whoever is offended by this doesn't like their origin
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those talking shit , I see they don't know shit. When Africans travel to go and work at Europe, dey laugh at dem, telling dem dat Africans have everything but still come to them. just imagine with all this good African players playing for European countries are playing for their home soil. how would Africa football would be?😏🤔
DongsJonah
245
your father for urging Chelsea to sell enzo. common get out of that place, stupid man
Kasbcdeisy
149
can you tell me the lyrics please?
the lyrics say France player's their mother's are from Cameroon, Father's are from Algeria but on their passport their are France. is this a Racism or the truth used as song. Go and check lyrics of Get up, Stand up by Bob Marley and tell me whether he was being a Racist or telling the truth
Howaimnpry
149
This is how people go to jail because of poor judgment. according to your explanation here, he has been filming before they started signing the song and he stopped when the racism began. why should this be an issue that only Enzo should face? the recording didn't show that he started the song, he is not the captain of the team that warrant him to carry the entire punishment committed by those in the bus for lack of supervision or leadership failure but one of the most junior player in the team. with the look of how people are judging this issue, it means the only offense committed here is the filming or recording of the activities of the players in the bus rather than issue of racism because I find it difficult to understand why everyone has made Enzo a scapegoat for offense committed by all the team members in the bus. Argentina players in Man United, Man City and other clubs in Europe who were in the bus are all angels in this matter because they singing racism song isn't a crime but only the person recording or filming is the main crime. I am a Nigerian and I stand with Enzo because you can't punished only one individual for offense committed by many. the offense was committed during international engagement, Chelsea is my club but they Chelsea should distance themselves from this issue just like every other clubs in Europe are doing right now while the matter should be referred to FIFA to sanctions Argentina national team and punished them. Chelsea as a club should settle their internal issues within the players without any form of public contribution to the matter. if you as a player didn't want to play with Enzo because of this meaning Chelsea will never sign in Argentina players again because all Argentina players in the bus committed same offense with Enzo.