Wesley Fofana insists Enzo Fernandez is not racist, saying his Chelsea team-mate simply needed educating on why the Argentinian chant aimed at the French was so hurtful.
Fofana was not forced into speaking but instead asked his club if he could talk to the journalists covering their tour of the United States.
It was following a training session in Atlanta that he told us why he had forgiven Fernandez, two weeks after describing the footage of Argentina’s Copa America celebrations aboard their team bus as‘uninhibited racism’ on social media.
Fernandez rejoined the Chelsea squadon Monday, with the £106.8million midfielder issuing an immediate apology in a team meeting and pledging to make a sizeable contribution to an anti-discrimination charity.
Fofana says education is more important than money, however, as he never wants to see a repeat of this ugly incident that rocked Chelsea.
Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana (left) has claimed his team-mate Enzo Fernandez 'is not racist'
Fernandez has joined in on pre-season training with Chelsea following the previous racism storm caused by his posting of Argentina players singing a discriminatory chant
‘You see Enzo is back and I’m happy,’ said Fofana, one of six Frenchmen in Chelsea's touring squad. ‘We talked together. I explained why I didn’t like the video. He explained. He said sorry because he did not want to hurt French fans or anyone. He did not understand when singing it.
'And I trust him. Because I know him. I know Enzo. He is not racist. It is just the video is bad. It’s not only Enzo. It’s the Argentinian team. Enzo is in the video but if he was from another country, I would have posted the same thing. For sure, it was a big story because we play in the same team.
'But now it is done, it’s good. I'm happy with this situation because he understands me, I understand him, he said sorry, I trust him, and that is the most important thing. Enzo is a big player in Argentina. I hope this has educated him a bit, because for sure, it is a different culture.'
Fofana has since deleted his social media post as he explained: 'We play for the same club and badge and train together. Now I understand him. He understands me. Everybody is happy.’
Asked if his opinion is shared by all of Chelsea’s touring squad, Fofana said: ‘We talked, all the team together. It was not only me and Enzo. It was everybody. We are in the same team and we need to go forward together. It is finished. We play together. We need to stay together. We're strong together.
Fernandez previously filmed a video of the Argentina team singing a racist chant about France
Fofana has now deleted his tweet where he originally reposted the video via X alongside the words: 'Football in 2024: uninhibited racism'
Fofana (C) and Fernandez (R) have since made amends after the Argentina star apologised
‘If I’m on one side and Enzo is on the other side and we fight every day or we don't talk or we're not happy, on the pitch then we don’t play well. That's not only me and Enzo. It's all the team. It is for that, that we talked. It’s a good club.’
Fofana added he took no satisfaction in learning that Fernandez was losing money, with Chelsea also pledging to match his charitable donation. Instead, he feels it is more important that the wider world learns a lesson about respecting different cultures.
‘I don't care about the money,’ Fofana added. ‘He loses money. I don't want Enzo to lose money. The donation is good but the most important thing is not to repeat the act and that we educate everybody. He is an example because Enzo is a big player, a big star. He understands that and I’m happy like this.
'I don't think a big sanction for Enzo is a good process. We need to educate about this because cultures are different, a lot of countries. We don't have the same education, for good or bad. But we need to educate everybody if we don’t want a repeat.’