adminFour Chelsea fans accused of refusing to allow a black man on to the Paris Metro have been banned from attending football matches for up to five years. Richard Barklie, from Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, and Joshua Parsons and William Simpson, both from Surrey, were banned for five years at Stratford Magistrates’ Court.
Jordan Munday, from Sidcup in Kent, was banned for three years.
They were told they could not attend games at home or abroad.
District Judge Gareth Branston said: “Racist hatred was displayed by Chelsea fans on the Paris Metro that evening.”
He told the court what happened had “tarnished the reputation of English football in Europe”.
Violence flared when Chelsea fans were in the French capital to watch the west London club’s Champions League match against Paris St-Germain on February 17.
Afterwards video surfaced showing Frenchman Souleymane Sylla pushed off the train amid chants of “we’re racist and that’s the way we like it”.
The French commuter previously said the whole episode was “humiliating”.
In a statement read out in court, Sylla said he was “violently” forced off the train as Chelsea fans jeered at him.
He said: “I again approached the carriage, explaining to this person I wanted to get back on the train.
“He didn’t seem to understand what I said to him, and other supporters behind him were shouting and singing in English. As I don’t speak English, I didn’t understand what they said.”
“Another person made a sign indicating to the colour of the skin on his face,” he said. — BBC.
Online Reporter