Vesper

Football’s silence over Argentina’s racist chanting is deafening and damning https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5643556/2024/07/17/argentina-chanting-football-silence/ The telling bit in the video of Enzo Fernandez and other Argentinian players singing a racist song about France following their victory in the Copa America final is the voice you can hear just at the end. “Corta (el) vivo,” someone says — “stop the live stream.” They know. They know what they’re saying. They know that what they’re saying is profoundly offensive, and they know what will happen if the outside world hears it. This isn’t one of those things that can be equivocated. It’s not something that can be denied. The words are clear, and we know the words because it’s a song that has been around for a couple of years. The words to the chant were: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.” The song in question came from a group of Argentina fans before the 2022 World Cup final, which was flagged at the time by French anti-racist protestors as an “expression of a far-right ideology”. GO DEEPER French Federation filing complaint over 'unacceptable racist' chants by Argentina players Frankly it’s bad enough that Argentina, presumably insulated from a PR perspective by their victory at the World Cup, didn’t seek to distance themselves more from the song, but the fact the players seem to have incorporated it into their celebrations is so much worse. If nothing else, it speaks to an unpleasant collective mentality and pervading culture that a group of players, at a moment of triumph, would choose this song as part of their celebrations. It’s also worth noting, without wishing to detract from the blatant racism, the transphobia that is at play here too. The full lyrics of the song make reference to French players being “cometravas, like Mbappe.” “Cometravas” is a slang term that essentially translates as “someone who has sex with transgender people”. Football in general has made positive steps to make the game more welcoming for LGBTQ+ people. Players who actively choose not to participate in anti-homophobia campaigns are thankfully few and far between, and those that do are often punished — like Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara who, after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt last season, was suspended for four games. Things like this song, however, do not help and in fact actively harm the effort to make football a more inclusive place. But if the song itself and the gleeful willingness of the players involved to sing it was not depressing enough, the aftermath has been almost as bad. Fernandez himself issued an apology of sorts, claiming that he got “caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations” and the song did not “reflect my character or beliefs”. He also said, rather laughably, that “I stand against discrimination in all forms”. Let’s just say that when he is inevitably forced to participate in some sort of anti-racism campaign in the weeks or months to come, his words will ring hollow. Chelsea themselves reacted in fairly responsible fashion, putting out a statement that set out their own position and values, saying they will use this as “an opportunity to educate” and that they have started an internal disciplinary procedure. It will be interesting to see what comes of that process, given that if Fernandez was a fan and was caught singing that song in the stands at Stamford Bridge, he would be looking at the ugly end of a fairly lengthy stadium ban. Beyond that though, things have been very quiet. Wesley Fofana, the French Chelsea defender, called it “uninhibited racism”. David Datro Fofana, the club’s Ivory Coast striker, put a statement on Instagram saying that “racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms” and that the fight against racism “needs to be taken seriously by everyone involved in the sport”. It’s the last bit that feels the most pertinent. Because aside from those two responses, plus a picture posted by Nicolas Jackson of Fernandez hugging a black child, the meaning of which is open to interpretation, there’s not been much else. Only black players have acknowledged the incident publicly so far. No white players have condemned the song. Perhaps some of Fofana’s white team-mates have offered private support, but as things stand there has been nothing beyond that. As will be depressingly familiar, it is the black players that have been left to do the emotional work, to carry the mental baggage of having to deal with a racist incident. It enforces the idea that racism is a problem only for black people, when it’s a blight that shames us all. It isolates the black players, suggesting that it’s not something that anyone else has to worry about. Imagine the power that would come from a white player standing up, unprompted, and condemning the song. It would provide a valuable symbol, but it would be more than just a surface-level thing. It would have genuine import. The clubs of the other players in the video have, at the time of writing, decided not to comment. It is, in fairness, a little tricky to definitively identify exactly who is singing in the video, but everyone seems to be trying their best to ignore the issue entirely. Perhaps we could give them the benefit of the doubt and say that, in time, they will speak to their Argentinian players and remind them of their responsibilities — not as footballers or representatives of a club, but as human beings. But at the moment it would seem that they are just hoping the whole thing goes away. Even if it is tough to identify the individuals doing the singing, anyone who sat in silence while such a racist song was being sung probably could do with at least a talking-to. Surely the least we can expect from the clubs is for them to acknowledge the incident, that they will investigate and if it is found that any of their players were involved, they would face the appropriate punishment. Chelsea are the only club to have said anything so far, not that we should necessarily be handing out extra credit for that: after all, they couldn’t possibly have avoided it. Elsewhere though, crickets. For all the glossy campaigns and well-intentioned initiatives and solemnly shot ‘No to racism’ UEFA videos, when so much of the game is silent at moments like this, the idea that football is serious about combating racism is very hard to take seriously.

Chelsea recall Lesley Ugochukwu from France Olympic squad https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5647244/2024/07/19/lesley-ugochukwu-Chelsea-france-olympics/ The French Football Federation (FFF) says Chelsea have recalled Lesley Ugochukwu from his participation with the France Olympic squad. Ugochukwu was named in Thierry Henry’s preliminary selection for the under-23 tournament in his home country in June but missed out on a place in the condensed 18-man squad earlier this month. However, Olympic football rules allow teams to take up to four replacements that can come in for any injured players in the initial selection at any time during the tournament, and then return to replacement status if the player returns to fitness. U.S. women’s head coach Emma Hayes said last week she sees it as a 22-player squad. As the Olympics is not a tournament within a FIFA window, club sides are allowed to block their players from participating. Ugochukwu joined Chelsea from Rennes for around £23.5million ($30.3m) last summer. The 19-year-old featured regularly as a rotation option in the first half of the season but suffered a hamstring injury that saw him miss most of the second half of the campaign, ending with 15 appearances across competitions. The Athletic reported earlier this month that Chelsea were reviewing loan options for Ugochukwu, with the club’s priority that the midfielder spends the season at another Premier League team. Chelsea have been back in training since July 4 and are due to head to the U.S. for a pre-season tour on Monday, where they will face Wrexham, Celtic, Club America, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Henry’s France side, meanwhile, have been drawn in Group A alongside the U.S., Guinea and New Zealand. The Athletic has contacted Chelsea for comment. GO DEEPER Why clubs are denying players a place at Olympic Games - and why it is allowed

Patrick Vieira leaves BlueCo-owned Strasbourg by mutual consent https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5645228/2024/07/18/patrick-vieira-strasbourg-Chelsea-blueco/ BlueCo, the multi-club ownership group best known for its ownership of Chelsea, has today made a managerial change at its French club Strasbourg, parting company with head coach Patrick Vieira by mutual consent. Vieira, a legendary player in the English Premier League with Arsenal and 107-cap midfielder for the France national team, signed a three-year contract to coach Strasbourg in his homeland last July. However, the French top-flight club have now undertaken a review of the team’s performance during his first campaign and decided to hire a new head coach, which is also the fate that befell Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino after one year in the job in west London. Strasbourg are now seeking a new coach to adopt their preferred possession-based and positional play approach to football, rather than a more conservative approach favoured by Vieira at times during his single season in charge. Strasbourg ended the 2023-24 campaign in 13th place in the 18-team Ligue 1, ten points clear of the relegation zone but eleven points short of European qualification places. Among the fifteen teams who were not relegated, Strasbourg had the second-worst goal difference in the division and only four teams across the league failed to score more than Strasbourg’s 38 goals. BlueCo, a consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Toddy Boehly, paid €76.3million (£65.2m; $81.7m) for a 99.97 per cent stake in the French club in June 2023. BlueCo described it as a “strategic investment” to “further our presence in European football alongside our ownership of Chelsea” and “create huge opportunities to share knowledge and expertise”. The club recently hired Pascal De Maesschalck as their new technical director, with the Belgian a former colleague of Chelsea’s co-sporting director Laurence Stewart, having worked as AS Monaco’s director of youth development when Stewart was technical director of the principality club. De Maessschalk, who arrived last month, was a key part of the season review that has culminated in Vieira leaving the club, along with the club’s board. GO DEEPER Chelsea may have spent £1bn - but how much of that have they seen on the pitch? Strasbourg president Marc Keller has been at the helm since 2012, helping the team recover from severe financial problems and demotion to the fifth tier of the French football pyramid to establishing themselves in Ligue 1 since promotion in 2017. This coming season will be their eighth successive campaign in the top flight. Based in eastern France near the borders with Germany and Switzerland, they won the French League Cup in 2019 and finished sixth in 2021-22. Last summer, Strasbourg spent around €60m on players aged 21 or below, in a move for young talent that resembles the approach at Chelsea, although the existing leadership at the French side were also aligned with the aim of lowering the age of the squad. Abakar Sylla joined from Club Bruges for a club-record €20m (plus €2m in potential add-ons). Emanuel Emegha arrived from Sturm Graz for €12m. Saidou Sow was bought from Saint-Etienne for around €4m, while Dilane Bakwa and Junior Mwanga were acquired from Bordeaux for a combined €20m. Those five players are either 20 or 21 years old. They also took Brazilian pair Andrey Santos and Angelo, aged 20 and 19, on loan from parent club Chelsea. There were also substantial sales during the season, including forward Habib Diallo to Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab and goalkeeper Matz Sels to Nottingham Forest. Teething problems made for a challenging campaign. Between Christmas and the end of the season, Strasbourg won only four of 17 games and during this time, banners emerged protesting against the club’s multi-club ownership model. GO DEEPER Chelsea, Strasbourg, BlueCo and a multi-club model yet to convince a sceptical fanbase Vieira would likely argue he required more time and additional recruitment to develop his team in his image but Strasbourg have aspirations of European qualification during this coming season and felt a change was necessary. Strasbourg are planning to invest significantly once more and have already spent over €5m on winger Oscar Perea, an 18-year-old from Colombian side Atletico Nacional. Strasbourg are able to benefit in their multi-club ownership model from sharing data and recruitment knowledge and information with Chelsea, while the English club can also use the French side as a landing spot to develop its younger talent. Yet BlueCo sources insist they are eager for Strasbourg to stand competitively on their own two feet, breaking into the clutch of clubs behind Paris Saint-Germain who compete regularly for European positions in the French league, which means rivalling teams such as Lens, Brest, Lyon, Monaco, Nice and Lille for those key qualification spots that can unlock the revenue potential from UEFA competitions and also provide greater challenges for any players who may be developed either for Chelsea or broader resale value. BlueCo sources say that they are also contributing significant sums to the renovation of the club’s Stade de la Meinau stadium. The ground is owned by the Strasbourg municipality and is undergoing a renovation to bring the capacity of the stadium from 26,282 to circa 32,000. The BlueCo decision to cut ties with Vieira and double down on the investment comes at a significant moment in French football, when Ligue 1 has been struggling to sell its domestic television rights deal and Strasbourg’s divisional rivals are afflicted by financial difficulties. The LFP has been trying to sort its TV deal — for the rights to show Ligue 1 matches from 2024 to 2029 — since October, when an ambitious auction looking to bring in €1billion (£840m; $1.1bn at the current rates) per year was scrapped because there were no takers. At that time, LFP president Vincent Labrune wished to spark a bidding war involving current broadcast partners Amazon Prime and Canal+, as well as Qatar-based beIN Sports, British sports streamer DAZN and potentially U.S. media giant Apple. Yet no offer came and so Labrune was forced to go back to the drawing board. GO DEEPER 'We must hope for a miracle': How a failed TV deal has put Ligue 1 in crisis mode The delays ran into this summer, leaving clubs fearing firesales, administrations or bankruptcies. But this week AFP reported that a deal with beIN Sports and DAZN was close, worth around €500 million annually for domestic broadcast rights, while international rights would bring in a further €160m. The deal, however, is still to be finalised as some quibbling continues over the length of the agreement. Ligue 1’s TV income is dwarfed by the Premier League — which agreed a £6.7billion domestic TV rights deal with Sky and TNT Sports in December to show matches for the next four seasons, working out at £1.68bn ($2.17bn/€2bn a year) — but is also behind the German Bundesliga’s domestic broadcast income (€1.1bn a year), Spain’s La Liga (€990m a year) and Serie A in Italy (€900m a year). The shortfall in TV income, if this deal materialises, is around 35 per cent down relative to expectations originally set out by LFP and 20 per cent, is likely to tighten belts and cause financial headaches across French football. Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool, withdrew over the past week from their previously advanced discussions to acquire the French second-division side Bordeaux, who are in significant financial turmoil. BlueCo and Strasbourg, however, sense an opportunity to double down on their investment and break consistently into European positions. Whoever is chosen to replace Vieira, therefore, will need to meet expectations.

Chelsea and the Enzo Fernandez fallout: Anger, apologies and investigations https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5644814/2024/07/18/Chelsea-enzo-fernandez-song-fallout/ Enzo Fernandez is expected to join up with his Chelsea team-mates on the pre-season tour of the U.S. later this month — and only then will the club find out just how well the apology over his behaviour has been received. New head coach Enzo Maresca has been working at the training ground for only a couple of weeks and is already having to cope with the first significant test of his man-management skills. Welcome to Chelsea, indeed. As one source close to a senior player, speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships, explained, before Fernandez’s live stream, the start of Maresca’s regime could not have gone much better. Members of the squad who were not involved in the international tournaments began reporting for duty on July 4 and the feedback from the Italian’s sessions had been very positive. The mood has been good. That is until Fernandez live-streamed a video of him and some of his Argentina teammates singing what the French Football Federation (FFF) has labelled a ‘racist and discriminatory song’ following Argentina’s Copa America final win over Colombia on Sunday night. The FFF says it plans to lodge a legal complaint with FIFA and understandably so. The lyrics are offensive, mocking the background of French players and with an element of transphobia for good measure too. GO DEEPER Football’s silence over Argentina’s racist chanting is deafening and damning The clip went viral for all the wrong reasons and anger was not just expressed by the FFF. Fernandez’s actions were viewed by his Chelsea colleagues and the reaction was bad. “Many people were really angry,” one person close to a senior player says. “They were asking, ‘Why would he do that?’ “There has always been a strong togetherness in the squad and the club just needed the right coach to make it work. But this incident has changed that. It will be interesting to see what happens when Fernandez goes back to the club.” Another individual familiar with the team environment described the situation as being even more dire, that the camp had initially been “fractured”. An indication of the upset caused came on Tuesday when Chelsea’s French players unfollowed Fernandez en masse on Instagram. One player, defender Wesley Fofana, then posted a clip of Fernandez’s video on X with the caption ‘Football in 2024: uninhibited racism’. Fofana’s account was then subject to a flood of racist abuse. Chelsea promised to investigate the incident on Tuesday afternoon, part of which included establishing the video was genuine. Fernandez is on holiday post-Copa America so was not with the club (and therefore could not immediately be spoken to in person) but by late Tuesday night UK time, he issued a statement of contrition. “I want to apologise for a video posted on my Instagram channel during the national team celebrations,” he wrote. “The song includes highly offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words. I stand against discrimination in all forms and apologise for getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations. That video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry.” On Wednesday morning UK time, Chelsea released a statement of their own. “Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable. We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome. “We acknowledge and appreciate our player’s public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate. The club has instigated an internal disciplinary procedure.” Fernandez has since reached out to all his team-mates to express his remorse for what he has done. Chelsea’s Senegal international Nicolas Jackson also posted on his Instagram account a picture displaying two images of Fernandez. One was a picture of him sitting with the midfielder, the other was a short clip of the 23-year-old engaging with a junior black supporter in the past. He titled it ‘Enzo Fernandez and this young fan’. The post has since been deleted. Perhaps an indication that things have not moved on quite as simply as Chelsea may have hoped was provided by striker David Datro Fofana following Wesley Fofana in expressing his dismay at the events on Wednesday afternoon. “The football that I like is multi-ethnic,” he wrote on his Instagram account. “Racism in all its forms should be condemned in the strongest possible term. These acts have no place in football or even anywhere else. This fight really needs to be taken seriously by everyone involved in this sport.” So what happens now? Fernandez’s vacation could help take the heat out of the situation for the time being but the issue will surely come to the fore again if, as expected, he flies to the U.S. to join up with the Chelsea squad, who depart for the pre-season tour on Monday, the following week. One person familiar with the team environment told The Athletic that they feel some kind of mediation will still have to take place. Fernandez, who cost £106million ($135m) when he joined from Benfica 18 months ago and is contracted until 2032, is clearly regarded as one of Chelsea’s key players. But his actions have also created an issue for Maresca, who has yet to talk to the media since taking charge. Inevitably the Italian will have questions to answer about it for the foreseeable future and the player’s bond with his colleagues, let alone his form, will now be under more scrutiny than ever.

fucking cunts not the profile they want as in one of the best shot blockers and aerial keepers on the planet noooooooooo cant have that instead they want some clown who will commit howlers for fun we have been fucked at keeper for years, ever since Cuntois fucked off other than one year wonder and then back to the clown car Mendy so sick of this SHIT

sex pest In October 2021, a 22-year old woman filed a legal complaint against Wahi for violence that resulted in her being incapable to work. She claimed that he had punched her in the nose during an evening out at the L'Entrepôt nightclub in Lattes, Hérault, on the night of 12–13 September a month earlier.[21] In November 2021, investigative reporter Romain Molina revealed an allegation that Wahi had been expelled from Caen's youth academy for pressuring secondary school students to masturbate in front of him in the bathrooms.

fuck that shit our scouts can fuck the fuck off if that is true fuck them fuck this rumour fuck everything

lol, we are being linked with Manure flop (and a player who turns 30yo in 17 months) Andreas Pereira only 28 goals in 317 games in his entire topflight career (10 seasons now) for club and country Cole scored 28 goals just this one season for club and country

sounds like a Macedonian plumbing firm

isnt it Wesley they are swarming with hate?

Demba Ba describes Argentina as 'an asylum for former Nazis on the run' as the former Chelsea star wades into racism row after sports minister was fired for telling Lionel Messi to apologise https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13650497/Demba-Ba-describes-Argentina-asylum-former-Nazis-run.html Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba has waded into the Argentina racism row by describing the South American country as an 'asylum for former Nazis on the run' Enzo Fernandez is at the centre of a scandal after he posted a video on social media which appeared to show him and a number of his team-mates singing along to a song which is alleged to include 'racist and discriminatory language'. Fernandez is now facing sanctions from the Premier League, while Chelsea stated that they are conducting an internal disciplinary procedure, and the song has been criticised by his Blues team-mate Wesley Fofana. Now, former Newcastle and Chelsea striker Ba has joined in on the criticism, posting on X: 'Argentina, land of asylum for former Nazis on the run. From 1945, Peron hosted war criminals. And it surprises you...' It comes after Argentina's deputy sports minister was fired for suggesting that Lionel Messi apologise for the video. Yesterday it was revealed that Liverpool star Alexis 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.' 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 Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, and Lesley Ugochukwu have since unfollowed Fernandez on the platform, where Fernandez on Tuesday shared a public apology. The 23-year-old is also thought to have apologised to his team-mates in private, against the backdrop of the club launching an 'internal disciplinary procedure' over their midfielder's conduct.

I am good with that

well, giving him a hard look costs us nothing extra and one of my BFFs at A levels (she was originally from Cardiff) said never trust the Welsh judgement on anything, LOLOL (the plonkers voted Leave after all, for one thing)

The deal is not back-breakingly massive £52m in transfer fee + £7m in possible (some are apparently a bit hard to achieve, have not seen the full details) potential add-ons weekly salary of £113.5K PW with possible performance-based add-ons that max out at £36.5K PW For an already massively injured (before we bought him, and now since) Wesley Fofana, we paid £70m in straight fees, plus £5m in add-ons and we are paying him £200K PW (some sources say he can earn up to £230K PW) I would swap deals and players IN A BLOODY HEARTBEAT

Those were not my ratings. Those are valuations. Murillo seems a crazy good ball playing CB (best on that little list), but watching him last season I found him to be a bit suspect defensively. He also is a bit on the short side (1.84) so he might be vulnerable in the air. Would I prefer him to Disasi? Yes, but he is a left footer, and Disasi a righty. Over Badiashile? That's lefty v lefty. Close, but maybe yes. Would massively have preferred Riccardo Calafiori. 😞

I so hope we give our lad Bashir Humphreys a good hard look at CB in preseason. 21yo, basically ambipedal, decent size (1.87m), great pace, can play fullback as well https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/who-is-bashir-humphreys-where-can-he-play-and-when-did-he-sign-for-Chelsea

only time will tell if they overpaid if Yoro turns out to be a generational CB talent, then they did the right thing this is every young (not yet 23yo) CB on the planet in terms of a valuation £27m and up atm in order: Leny Yoro Levi Colwill António Silva (surely Real Madrid have to be looking at him HARD) Giorgio Scalvini (out until January 2025 injured, so off the table) Riccardo Calafiori (pretty shocked Real did not at least try for him) Gonçalo Inácio Jarrad Branthwaite Piero Hincapié Ousmane Diomande Castello Lukeba Willian Pacho Murillo

I cannot believe Manure stole a march on Real like that, especially considering Yoro saying for a long time that his dream of dream club was Real and all he had to do was wait and go there on a free (so major signing bonus for him) in 11 months (he will only be 19yo then!!!) It is the first wrong call I have made in ages in terms of who Real would pull I do not remember the last time they failed in a transfer they truly wanted, one who then left for another club (Mbpappe they got, they just had to wait) and they need CBs BADLY, its their big weak spot, that and fullbacks they only have one truly healthy good CB atm, Rudiger, and he turns 32yo in spring Alaba is still out for a long spell (maybe until winter) with a massive knee injury and is almost 9 months older than Rudiger and Militao is back but not at all fully right yet, he barely played in the CL (12 minutes the entire competition) and was very poor for Brasil in the Copa America Vallejo is garbage, worth less than 1 million quid, and will surely be dumped, was terrible for them when he played, and missed most of all of last season on loan with a horrid leg break and then major depression for the last 6 months I would be in absolute full panic mode if we swapped all our CBs for all of theirs, and all of you know how unhappy I am with most of our current CBs

this sickens me

too bad they are both left-footed and Hincapie has been in my targets for a long time

He needs to look at what hus President and Vice President are saying and doing. The Argies are a shitshow atm. It saddens me to see such racist shitbaggery coming from the leaders of the nation. Such a shame what Spain and Portugal did to South and Central America plus Mexico. The British and French did a shit tonne of damage to North America, and dog knows systemic racism is alive and well there, but nothing like Central and South America under tge Spanish and Portuguese models and their incredible poverty and socio-economic stratification. Of course, the US helped to keep that oppressive model in place down there (United Fruit Company/CIA actions and the CIA murder coup of Salvador Allende in Chile to name just 2 examples), so shame on them as well.

they are looking at punishing all involved

'Argentina song stained glory of Copa victory' https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cpe39n00ng2o Argentina won the Copa America, but lost the respect of many with the manner of their celebration. Midfielder Enzo Fernandez faces disciplinary proceedings at Chelsea after posting a video on social media that the French Football Federation said included alleged "racist and discriminatory language". Fifa is also investigating the video, in which several members of the Argentina squad - celebrating their 1-0 win over Colombia in the final - take part in a song originally sung by Argentina fans questioning the heritage of France's black and mixed-race players. The global repercussions of that song have sparked a reaction from the Argentine government. Javier Milei's right-wing administration has no natural sympathy for anything that might be considered 'woke'. But Julio Garro, the under-secretary for sports, suggested that team captain Lionel Messi and local FA president Claudio Tapia should issue an apology for the song that some were singing on the bus on Sunday night. "It's left us looking bad," he said. Garro was sacked, external on Wednesday for his comments, while others have rejected the need for an apology. With monotonous and depressing regularity, when teams from Argentina play opponents from Brazil in continental club competitions, there are scenes in the stands of Argentine fans making monkey gestures. When interviewed, the perpetrators vehemently deny that they are racists. They are indulging in 'banter'. All is fair, they argue, in love, war and football. Anything that goads and irritates the opposition is fair game. And on this latest matter, such sentiments are widespread. The attempts from Argentine clubs to crack down on this behaviour have often been half-hearted, with references to 'xenophobia' - instead of calling it what it is: racism. Especially depressing is the fact that this behaviour has been exhibited by some of the players. Here there is no excuse. With the exception of Lionel Messi and back-up goalkeeper Franco Armani, the entire squad is based in Europe. These players are part of multi-national, multi-cultural, multi-racial squads. They should know much better. Quite apart from any possible sanctions, there could be some very awkward dressing-room moments when they report back for pre-season training. Why do they do it? One of the attractions of national team duty for these players is the chance to be together with people from their own culture, and sing their own songs. It is a chance for them to be aggressively and assertively Argentine. Many aspects of the country's fan culture are wonderful. The songs can be hypnotic. But the lyrics to this particular song, which grew out of the Qatar World Cup final, which Argentina won on penalties against France, are extremely disturbing. The Argentine players risk not only insulting their black team-mates and fans. These songs insult their own heritage. It is rare these days to see a black Argentine. But that has not always been the case. Going back to the days of Spanish colonial rule, the country imported far fewer enslaved Africans than neighbouring Brazil, and put an end to slavery decades earlier. But around two hundred years ago, Buenos Aires was a third black. What happened to this population? There are many theories, ranging from outbreaks of yellow fever to deaths in the war for independence. The most coherent idea, though, is simply that they were swamped by the millions of immigrants pouring in from Europe and the Middle East (especially Italy - Argentines speak Spanish with an Italian intonation) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The African influence is there in the gene pool. Dark-skinned people are often nicknamed 'el negro' - which carries no negative connotation. African influence has left its mark. Argentina's most significant cultural product is tango. The word is African, and the music and dance, like so many genres of the Americas, are the consequence of the mix of African, European and indigenous styles. Because of its socially lowly origins, tango was looked down upon by the Argentine elite, seen as a vulgar phenomenon - until it took Paris by storm in the early 20th century and was thus legitimised. Incidentally, it is interesting that (just like samba in Brazil), tango in Argentina moved in the opposite direction from football. The musical genre began at the bottom of society and moved up, where football started with the elites and moved down. A friend of mine is a black Uruguayan sociologist. You might expect him to have a good radar for these things, and he lived for years in Buenos Aires without experiencing the slightest problem. On the other hand, the mere presence of so many European immigrants in the south cone of South America was an explicitly racist project. At the time, there was a fashion for eugenic ideas - the belief that some 'races' were superior to others. South American leaders sought to 'improve' and 'civilise' their countries through importing a white labour force. The very presence, then, of so many European descendants in Argentina is the consequence of racist thinking. The idea of a hierarchy of races has never entirely gone away, and has emerged in all its horror in the lyrics of the song with which some of the Argentina players stained their glory on Sunday.

The Argies on their way to becoming globally hated................. Argentina fires sports undersecretary for demanding Messi's apology in racism controversy https://e.vnexpress.net/news/sports/football/argentina-fires-sports-undersecretary-for-demanding-messi-s-apology-in-racism-controversy-4771647.html Captain Lionel Messi (R) and Enzo Fernandez at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Argentina beat France on penalties in the final. Fernandez recently shared a controversial video on his Instagram account in which he and his teammates chanted racist remarks againsts players of France national football team. Photo by Reuters Julio Garro lost his position as sports undersecretary of Argentina after he demanded captain Lionel Messi to apologize for the team's recent racism incident. A video shared by Argentina star midfielder Enzo Fernandez on his Instagram account caused public outrage after he and his teammates chanted racist and discriminatory remarks aimed directly at the players of France national football team on the bus to the airport after their Copa America win on July 15. Although Messi was reportedly not on the bus at the time of the incident, Garro, who was appointed Argentina's sports undersecretary this year, demanded an apology from him and Argentine Football Association (AFA) Claudio Tapia. "The national team captain must also come out to apologize for this case. The same [goes for] AFA president. I think it is appropriate. It leaves us as a country in a bad position, with so much glory," Garro said. After Garro's statements, Argentina President Javier Millei's Office stated on X: "No government can tell what to comment, what to think or what to do to the Argentina national team, world champion and two-time Copa America winner, or to any other citizen. For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be the nation's sports undersecretary." Garro then apologized for his statement and said that "offending anyone was never my intention, and that is why I have offered my resignation, although I will always be on the other side of discrimination in all its forms." Argentina Vice President Victoria Villarruel also spoke out on social media, defending Fernandez and his teammates. "We have never imposed our lifestyle on anyone and will not allow anyone to do that to us," she wrote. "No country can threaten us with a song that only talks about the truth that they refuse to admit. Enough of pretending to be angry, you hypocrites. Enzo, I support you. Messi, thank you for everything." Argentina Olympic team coach Javier Mascherano also supported Fernandez, saying that racism is not present in Argentina. "We have to understand each country's culture," Mascherano said. "Sometimes a joke can be misunderstood. I know Enzo is a good guy." Fernandez and several other Argentina players are being investigated by Chelsea and FIFA because of the chant, which stated: "They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French." The French Football Federation condemned the remarks and has filed a complaint to FIFA. Fernandez was unfollowed on social networks by three French players of Chelsea - Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto. He later apologized and said "there are no words to justify his action."

He might be looking at multi-month ban maybe, say, 6 months or so FIFA will not be very lenient I fear