The image of a black man being denied entry to a train carriage is a shameful sight, echoing some of the bleakest moments of history. What happened on Tuesday was not some state-sponsored denial of basic human rights as blighted long periods of the 20th century in certain countries. This was personal, this was a handful of Chelsea fans, laughing bigots, preventing a black man from boarding the Métro.
Some of those in the carriage that stopped at Richelieu-Drouot station en route to the Parc des Princes claimed that there was a lack of space, an excuse requiring immediate dismissal.
These fans support a club based in London, a city probably rivalled only by Tokyo for shoehorning passengers on to its underground trains. Judging by the photographs, there was room in the carriage, and they should have made room to squeeze one more in.
Would they have turned Didier Drogba away? They are hypocrites and racists, society’s detritus meriting lifetime banishment from Chelsea.
Some observers have proffered the generalisation that this is a Chelsea disease, lumping together past terrace associations with the National Front, stirring in John Terry’s abuse of Anton Ferdinand, memories of unsavoury chants here last season, and then throwing in the words and deeds of a few railroad racists on this latest visit to Paris.
Chelsea still have a problem, one they need to address, yet what was also noticeable about their support heading towards this eagerly-awaited Champions League tie was how many fathers there were enjoying a half-term trip with their sons. Chelsea have a duty to them, as well as to wider society, to confront those who stain the club’s name.
Those intellectually-challenged, morally-bereft Chelsea fans at Richelieu-Drouot station must be suffering from amnesia as well as myopia. Chelsea have a Jewish benefactor, a black technical director, a multicultural dressing room and some very talented black teenagers emerging from their youth system. Drogba, that most eloquent of anti-racism campaigners, probably gave their little lives their biggest moment, that Champions League victory of 2012 in Munich.
“We’re racist, we’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it, we like it, we like it,’’ came the chant from a few. Such arrogant celebration of their own noxious beliefs, such contempt for others, is deeply dispiriting.
The majority of Chelsea supporters are understandably horrified by the racist minority in their midst and have been quick to condemn the incident.
“There were 2,000 Chelsea fans out here and we’re outraged by what went on,’’ said Dave Johnstone, editor of the influential cfcuk fanzine, talking in Paris on Wednesday morning. “But it was not a ‘carriage full of yobs’ as some people are saying. It was four or five idiots and we are disgusted by what they did and said.”
As footage of the shocking incident circulated on social media, Chelsea acted swiftly, saying they would back “criminal action” against those engaged in such “abhorrent” behaviour and would ban them. For life, it is to be hoped. Chelsea need to be strong.
Such sanctions are, of course, good, correct and inevitable but a wider issue is at play here: racism will be properly confronted only through education, through repeated discussions at primary school age about the evil of intolerance.
As the Chelsea spokesman said, the fans’ disgraceful conduct has “no place in football or society”. Society’s bile often spills out through football’s febrile world.
Deeply embarrassing for Chelsea, the depressing events at Richelieu-Drouot have potentially damaging ramifications for English football.
The Football Association is often perceived abroad as being a rather sanctimonious mother of the game, being quick to lecture other nations about its problems. This incident will be particularly useful for the Russians, hosts of the much-criticised 2018 World Cup, when they next have to fend off the English moralising about racism in Russia.
It is right to condemn Russian clubs for the banana-throwing and offensive banners of some of their fans, to take Italians to task for the racist taunting of AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng, to abhor the Serbs for their abuse of England’s Under-21s in Krusevac and pillory the Spanish following monkey chants in the Bernabéu towards Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole.
But an ugly episode on the Métro confirmed that the moral high ground that the English love to occupy is scarcely more than a slight elevation at times. Plenty of work has been done to improve matters, including invaluable campaigning by the underfunded, overworked Kick It Out group.
Clubs have become tougher on tackling racism. The FA runs campaigns. Through enlightened supporters’ groups, fans have done some important self-policing.
More is required. English football inexplicably still resists the implementation of a Rooney Rule which would allow more black coaches and managers access to the interviewing process for jobs, opening up a frequently closed shop. Racism lurks in some English boardrooms as well as on the terraces. The enemy within remains.
Did you know Telegraph Sport has a Chelsea Facebook page?
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