Chelsea investigating alleged racial abuse of Blues fan at Europa League tie
- Published
Chelsea fans watched their team beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final
Chelsea are investigating a supporter's complaint of being racially abused by fellow Blues fans in the Europa League win at Slavia Prague on Thursday.
Jay Bailey, 20, told the BBC he was subjected to racist slurs about his skin colour and hair, which he said were "very upsetting".
The club have told the Londoner they are taking the complaint seriously.
Chelsea prevented three people from entering the stadium in the Czech Republic because of racial abuse.
A video appeared to show them singing an abusive song about Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, who is a practising Muslim. The group were apparently chanting "Salah is a bomber" repeatedly.
After the video came to light, Chelsea said they find "all forms of discriminatory behaviour abhorrent" and would "take the strongest possible action" against those found guilty.
In December, Chelsea banned four fans while a police investigation into the alleged racial abuse of Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling took place.
Speaking to Radio 5 Live's Stephen Nolan, Chelsea fan Bailey said: "It was a situation where there were no other black Chelsea fans around me, so it was definitely at me. The racial slurs were mixed in with the fact that they were referring to my head - that my hairstyle looked like I have a pineapple on my head, and then the racial slurs followed.
"The first time I heard it I just thought 'he didn't say that. He must've just said something else that sounded like what I think I heard'.
"It was then repeated for a second time. And this was when I realised he is racially abusing me, and he's not just done it once, he's done it twice. So it's not like a case of it being a slip of the tongue. This was a full unprovoked attack towards me, of the verbal kind. Luckily it wasn't physical."
Anti-discrimination body Kick it Out said it was in touch with Chelsea about the complaint.
Speaking on social media, Bailey added: "It makes me feel 'wow, if I can't be safe surrounded by our own fans, where am I safe?'.
"These people shouldn't be going to games. Who else could this be happening to if I don't say anything?"
Blues chairman Bruce Buck told the BBC earlier this month that Chelsea "have a problem" with racist and anti-Semitic fan behaviour but believes education rather than bans will better help tackle the problem.