Several top Chelsea players have warmly welcomed owner Roman Abramovich\u2019s personal funding of the club’s latest venture in the fight against racism, the ‘No To Hate’ campaign.<\/p>\n
Abramovich has allocated new funds for Chelsea specifically in bolstering their support for their players in combating racial abuse on social media platforms and it is understood the squad have warmly welcomed the move.<\/p>\n
The Blues will publish a new social media policy, to include guidance for fans on how to identify and report online abuse.<\/p>\n
Chelsea’s Reece James was a target of racial abuse on Instagram in January, which sparked the club’s renewed anti-racism initiatives and the club will now seek to report, and even remove, abusive comments from online platforms.<\/p>\n
Chelsea lead the way in the Premier League with regards to high-profile campaigns against racism and has now taken it a notch higher reaffirming their stance, and their players are heartened by the club’s latest initiatives.<\/p>\n
“In January 2021, our player Reece James suffered disgusting and unacceptable racist abuse on social media,” read a Chelsea statement.<\/p>\n
“This was not an isolated incident. Several of our players have been, and continue to be, the targets of hate and discrimination online.<\/p>\n
“We as a club will not tolerate this any longer. We agree wholeheartedly with our players that something needs to change, in football and beyond.<\/p>\n
“That is why, in the aftermath of the abuse suffered by Reece in January, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich directed the board to further increase the club’s efforts to fight racism and committed to personally directing funds towards this important work.<\/p>\n
“Today we can announce that as a result of this directive from Mr Abramovich, we are launching the first steps in our new ‘No To Hate’ campaign.”<\/p>\n
Asode from pushing their ‘No To Hate’ initiatives alongside the long-running ‘Say No To Anti-Semitism’ campaign, Chelsea have also pledged to increase opportunities at the club for “black, Asian and other under-represented minority coaches”.<\/p>\n
“The racist abuse of Reece on social media was a painful reminder that we need to do more,” said Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck.<\/p>\n
“Mr Abramovich directed me and the board to identify further action we could take to tackle racism in football and society, and today we launch ‘No To Hate’, a campaign which we fervently hope will have a tangible positive impact for our players, staff, fans and communities.”<\/p>\n
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