Enzo Fernandez’s Argentina team-mate Alexis Mac Allister and the player’s father Raul given their input on the video portraying members of the Albiceleste singing a racist and transphobic song with reference to the French national team.
The beleaguered Chelsea star recorded the video on Instagram Live amid raucous celebrations in the wake of the team’s Copa America victory on Sunday as Fernandez and other teammates as yet unidentified sang a discriminatory song about the French team which described their players as ‘coming from Angola’.
Fernandez has received widespread condemnation for participating in the chant, including from his west London team-mates such as Wesley Fofana – who described it as ‘uninhibited racism’.
Fofana’s Chelsea compatriots including have since unfollowed Fernandez on the platform, where Fernandez on Tuesday shared a public apology.
The 23-year-old is also thought to have apologized to his teammates in private, against the backdrop of the club launching an ‘internal disciplinary procedure’ over their midfielder’s conduct.
But Liverpool star Mac Allister was keen to stress that the chant sung by the Argentina team had been misinterpreted somewhat, and in his defense of Fernandez, claimed that their’s was ‘not a racist country’.
‘You have to be careful with what you say or do,’ Mac Allister said on Thursday in an interview with Argentina’s Urbana Play FM. ‘Especially in Europe where they are much more sensitive than here.
‘The reality is that we are not a racist country; we are not used to talking about racism so much.’
Adding that it was ‘obviously a very important topic’, Mac Allister went on to underscore that the midfielder was a good person.
‘Enzo has already apologised and explained what happened,’ the midfielder continued. ‘I don’t think there’s much more to say.
‘We know Enzo, we know he would never do it with bad intentions, he’s not that guy, he’s not racist.’
Defending Fernandez even more keenly on Thursday was his father, who – as well as stressing that his son was not racist, argued that Argentinians had also been the victim of discriminatory chants.
‘I know what my son is. He is not that (racist),’ Fernandez Snr told Deportes Argentos. ‘It is difficult for a European to understand our football folklore.
‘He recorded that live at an inopportune moment, he didn’t even realise what he was singing.
‘In 2014, when Germany beat us, they imitated the way gauchos (Argentine horsemen) walked and treated us like ignoramuses.
‘In 2018, France was criticising (Lionel) Messi because of his height. We never came out and said that we were being discriminated against.’
Fernandez’s father Raul (far left) has also defended his son and claimed that he ‘is not’ racist.
While Fernandez will await the outcome of Chelsea’s internal investigation, the player could yet be subject to a greater sanction from the FA.
The video player is currently playing an ad. English football’s governing body are not yet looking into the incident, but if they choose to do so, Fernandez could face a ban of between 6 and 12 matches.
The French Football Federation have already lodged a complaint with FIFA over the video’s contents, but any potential punishment will likely target the Argentinian FA, rather than the individual.