During the UEFA Europa League group game between Videoton and Chelsea on Weekend, some Chelsea fans sang anti-Semitic songs in the Stadium. Videoton is located in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. According to statistics, Hungary is the country with the largest number of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe.
After the game, Chelsea issued a statement condemning the fans who made this behavior: “Anti-semitism and any other kind of race-related or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans. 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 brain-power to comprehend this simple message and are found to have shamed the club by used using anti-Semitism or racist words or actions will face the strongest possible action from the club.”
UEFA later stated that they were waiting for the referees to hand in the report and then decide what action to take on the matter. After the game, when asked about this, Chelsea coach Sarri said: “I didn’t hear anything. I am not able to understand a song in English, I am sorry.”
This is not the first time Chelsea has been investigated for anti-Semitic behavior by fans. In the game against Tottenham, Chealsea fans have similar behaviors (Tottenham’s president Levy is Jewish).
In fact, in the past few years, Chelsea has been taking major measures to try to stop this kind of discriminatory behavior of fans. Chelsea has controlled the ticket sales of away games and tried to exclude the extremists in the fans. Anti-racist activist Piara Powar said he believes that the “difficult political period” after the Brexit referendum was one of the reasons for the recent racist incidents.