The racist behaviour of Chelsea fans on the Paris Metro has left the club owner Roman Abramovich 'disgusted', with the manager Jose Mourinho claiming that he was 'ashamed' of those involved.
Some Chelsea fans prevented a black man from boarding a Metro train on Tuesday, and the sentiment from Abramovich, conveyed by the club's director of communications Steve Atkins, underlined the severity with which the club views these actions.
At a press conference, Mourinho said that he was ashamed of those involved. Chelsea later suspended a further two fans from Stamford Bridge while the incident is being investigated, following the three supporters banned on Thursday, The Independent reported.
The club began Mourinho's Friday press conference with a statement read on behalf of the club by Atkins in which Chelsea expressed their disgust at the fans who chanted that they are 'racists - and proud of it'.
Chelsea claimed that they were appalled by the mobile phone footage of the incident and wanted to apologise unreservedly to the victim, named Souleymane, for the behaviour of a small number of individuals and their unforgivable actions towards him.
Chelsea has written to the man, known as Souleymane S, whose full identity has not been disclosed, to invite him to be a guest of the club's board at Stamford Bridge for the return leg against Paris Saint-Germain on 11 March.
A group of Chelsea fans had previously begun an online campaign to reportedly raise money to bring Souleymane S to Stamford Bridge to demonstrate that their club's support was not racist.
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On Souleymane S, Mourinho said that at this moment, he has maybe the wrong idea of what Chelsea Football Club is, adding that he doesn't know if the gentleman loves football, but for sure he would love to feel that the miserable people that had this interaction with him are not Chelsea Football Club.
Mourinho insisted that this is not Chelsea.