Mourinho: Feelings of shame
Identified by a Paris newspaper as Souleymane S, the 33-year-old man said he was appalled by the way he was treated. When he arrived home afterwards, he said he did not tell his wife and son what had happened because he did not feel it was something they should hear.
He told Le Parisien newspaper the men who racially taunted him should be “found, punished and locked up.”
“They were saying things to me in English and I didn’t really understand the meaning of the words,” he told Le Parisien. “I understood that it had to do with Chelsea fans and made the link with the PSG [Paris Saint-Germain] match that was happening that night. I also clearly understood that they were hassling me because of the colour of my skin.”
French police gave the Metropolitan police images of seven men believed to have taken part in the incident or witnessed it. Chelsea has already suspended the season tickets of three, though they did not identify who or give further details.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told a press conference Friday he felt “ashamed to be connected to these sad things” and said the men involved do not represent Chelsea fans. He said the club wants to “fight” racism and “we want to apologize to the gentleman.” The club is writing to Souleymane and inviting him and his family to the March 11 return match against PSG.
Racist chant on Paris Metro
On their way to watch Chelsea play PSG the white males were caught on video chanting “Chelsea, Chelsea” and when Souleymane tried to get on the train they shoved him back off. Souleymane then pointed to a spot where there was room and went toward it but was again shoved off.
The men chanted “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it,” continuing to sing as a black woman is shown walking up to the train and standing in front of them.
The video that made its way onto Youtube was shot on the subway platform by a British ex-pat named Paul Nolan. Mr. Nolan said the men were aggressive and he was even worried about their reaction to him if they saw him shooting the video of the incident.
He was also concerned for the victim.
“He was obviously completely shocked when they pushed him off,” Nolan said. “I don’t think he realized who they were. He then tried to get on again and got pushed off a second time.
“I was just completely appalled by it and so that’s why I tried to catch some of it on my phone, although I was a bit self-conscious as it was getting quite aggressive and I overhead one of the Chelsea fans say something about stabbing someone. I think he was referring to a Paris Saint-Germain supporter who was on the platform.”
