Chelsea have issued an apology to the black man who was racially abused by club supporters on the Paris Metro on Tuesday night.
Three men could face life bans from football after being suspended from Stamford Bridge by Chelsea as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident.
A commuter, identified in media reports as French-Mauritian Souleymane S, was blocked from entering a train by what appeared to be a group of fans travelling to the Parc des Princes for the Champions League match against Paris St Germain.
"I'd like to make clear, on behalf of everyone at the club, our disgust at the incident. We were appalled by what we saw," a club spokesman said before manager Jose Mourinho began his weekly press conference.
“The club would also like to apologise unreservedly to Souleymane for the behaviour of a small number of individuals and their unforgivable action towards him.
“We’re writing to him to apologise and to invite him to come to a game as our guest.”
While Mourinho feels “ashamed” by the incident, he remains proud to be Chelsea manager after distancing the club from the supporters who racially abused the man.
“We feel ashamed but maybe we shouldn’t because I refuse to be connected with these people,” Mourinho said.
“I’m connected with Chelsea and the many good things this club defends. I left Chelsea in 2007 and I couldn’t wait to be back.
“I felt ashamed when I knew what happened, but I repeat I’m a proud Chelsea manager because I know what this club is.”
Earlier in the day Arsenal’s French manager Arsène Wenger condemned the racist abuse as “pathetic and dreadful”. He added though that such incidents reflect a problem with society and not just football.
“Unfortunately we have a recurrence of that always. But we have to be extremely severe with any incident of that calibre. It’s society’s problem [and not just football’s]. Look, more intelligent people than myself have thought about that and nobody has found a miraculous solution. It starts from childhood and education, and an open-minded attitude.
“There’s a danger of having radical people in every society. Look, since I’ve observed youth movements, there are always a number of people ready for radical solutions. Most of the time you have to control them. I don’t think anyone agrees with that kind of behaviour. Everybody has to fight against that. Why should we not? You have to be 100% against that. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
