Online Reporter
WESLEY FOFANA and Hannibal Mejbri were both subjected to horrific racist abuse online after Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.
Blues defender Fofana, 25, was flooded with monkey emojis on his social media after he was sent off after a second yellow for fouling James Ward-Prowse.
Chelsea went on to concede a late equaliser, as Zian Flemming headed home from a Ward-Prowse set piece.
The messages seemingly came from Chelsea “fans” venting their frustrations, with one calling Fofana a “piece of s***” and writing: “You made us draw with Burnley.”
Fofana stated: “2026, it’s the same thing, nothing changes. These people are never punished.
“You create big campaigns against racism, but nobody actually does anything.”
Chelsea issued the following statement regarding the attacks on Fofana: “Chelsea Football Club is appalled and disgusted by vile online racist abuse directed at Wesley Fofana.
“The targeted racist abuse Wes has been subjected to following today’s Premier League fixture against Burnley is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.
“Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and runs counter to the values of the game and everything we stand for as a club. There is no room for racism.
“We stand unequivocally with Wes. He has our full support, as do all our players who are too often forced to endure this hatred simply for doing their job.
“We will work with the relevant authorities and platforms in identifying the perpetrators and take the strongest possible action.”
The messages were revealed just hours after ex-Manchester United midfielder Hannibal shared a screenshot of a shocking message he received on Instagram with the comment “pfff…”.
The Burnley ace later added: “Educate yourself and your kids please.”
The Clarets said in a statement: “Everyone at Burnley FC is disgusted by the online racist abuse directed at Hannibal. There is no place for this in our society and we condemn it unreservedly. The post has been reported to Instagram’s parent company Meta.
“There is no place for this in our society and we condemn it unreservedly.”
A Prem statement on Mejbri read: “We join Burnley in strongly condemning the abhorrent racist abuse directed at Hannibal and have offered our full support to the player and club.
“Football is for everyone and there is no place for discriminatory abuse in our game or anywhere in society.”
On Fofana, the Premier League stated: “We stand alongside Wesley Fofana and Chelsea in condemning the vile racist abuse he has received on social media.
“Racism has no place in our game or anywhere in society and we will continue to do all we can to support players who are subjected to discriminatory abuse. Football is for everyone.”
It comes just days after Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr alleged he was called a “monkey” by Gianluca Prestianni in a Champions League clash — a claim the Benfica player denies -Sun.
Mathew Masinge
Complaining about these racist taunts is a waste of time. Most white people in Europe believe in this behaviour hence most of the culprits are young people. Those who seem to sympathize or feel abhorred by the racist taunts are just great pretenders. If they were serious about eliminating this abhorrent behaviour they would have done so a very long time ago. Teams would get relegated, points deducted, heavy fines imposed, culprits jailed, victims compensated etc.There is a whole list of heavy punishment that could be applied and such behaviour would stop once and for all. But no, only meaningless lame statements are issued at every turn and the rot continues. Racism is indeed in the veins of Europe. These are former colonizers of black people and racism is part of their culture.