Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca defended his choice to make midfielder Enzo Fernandez the captain for the team’s first Premier League game of the season, despite Fernandez being filmed singing a racist chant during the offseason.
Maresca’s first match ended with a 2-0 loss to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. However, many questions after the game focused on Fernandez and Raheem Sterling, who was unhappy about not being included in the matchday squad.
Fernandez took on the captain’s role in place of the injured Reece James, even though he had been criticized by Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana. Fofana called the Argentina players’ chant “uninhibited racism” after Fernandez posted a video of the chant on social media. The French Football Federation also filed a complaint to FIFA.
Maresca said Fernandez had acknowledged his mistake and apologized to his teammates, and he believes it’s time to move forward.
“The reason why (he was captain) is because I can see that his teammates, they recognize him like a reference, like a captain,” said the Italian coach. “I don’t know about you but I did mistakes in the past, and I recognized (it). And I think as a human being if you did a mistake and you recognize (it), you are not going to be punished your whole life.”
As with other Premier League games this weekend, the match began with all players taking a knee to support the ongoing fight against racism in soccer.
