Chelsea shame: club furious with fans for anti-Semitic chant

Europa League: MOL Vidi 2 Chelsea 2

Chelsea travelled to Budapest last night to play MOL Vidi in the Europa League and put behind them last week’s ugly incident at Stamford Bridge when a group of fans allegedly showered Raheem Sterling with racial abuse.

Unfortunately the Blues now find themselves embroiled in another row after some of their travelling fans chanted what The Guardian described as “an anti-Semitic chant”. The singing began shortly after kick-off in Hungary and was directed at Tottenham’s Jewish supporters.

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Shame on you

The incident overshadowed the 2-2 draw and meant Chelsea officials once more had to rush out an apology, similar to the one issued in the wake of the Manchester City match last weekend.

“Anti-Semitism and any other kind of race-related or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans,” said a spokesperson.

“It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities. We have stated this loud and clear on many occasions from the owner, the board, coaches and players.

“Any individuals that can’t summon the brainpower to comprehend this simple message and are found to have shamed the club by using anti-Semitic or racist words or actions will face the strongest possible action from the club.”

Blues are ballistic

Press Association journalist Matt McGeehan told BBC Sport that the chanting could be clearly heard in the Groupama Arena.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Morata a doubt

To compound another bad evening for Chelsea, Alvaro Morata suffered a knee injury in the 2-2 draw and the striker is a doubt for Sunday’s Premier League visit to Brighton.

“The first impression of the doctor [is] maybe it is not a serious injury,” said manager Maurizio Sarri. “But, of course, with this situation we have to wait to see if the situation is serious.”

The 2-2 draw last night means Chelsea finished top of Europa League group L with 16 points from their six matches. The Blues will be one of the seeded teams in Monday’s last-32 draw.