Chelsea say players racially abused in Qarabag academy game

At least one Qarabag supporter’s alleged racist abuse has been denounced by Chelsea during an Azerbaijani academy game.

In the sparsely watched game, Sol Gordon, 17, opened the scoring in the 57th minute at Baku’s Azersun Stadium and celebrated the goal in front of a group of fans who ran down to confront the players.

Eyewitnesses told BBB Sport that they saw and heard monkey gestures.

The discussions took place with coaching staff, including head coach Calum McFarlane, as players complained to Ukrainian referee Dmytro Kubriak for a short while.

Chelsea initially thought they might end the game, but they kept playing until the final whistle and won 5-0.

As substitutes Shim Mheuka and Frankie Runham sealed victory, winger Jesse Derry scored twice after being booked for celebrating provocatively in front of the home supporters.

Chelsea said in a statement that “we are aware of a situation where a number of our players were racially abused by a person in the crowd during today’s Uefa Youth League game in Azerbaijan.”

Racism and all forms of discriminatory behavior are completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated in sport or society at all. We vehemently condemn the person’s actions.

“Our players have the full backing of the entire club, and we have raised the matter with the home club and Uefa match delegate immediately.”

We are proud of how our players and staff handled the pitch incident, promptly reporting it to the referee, and congratulate those who handled it politely and appropriately in accordance with Uefa rules.

A Qarabag spokesperson apologized quickly, saying that the incident “does not represent the values of the club” and promising to conduct an “thorough investigation” in due course.

Before making a decision, Uefa’s disciplinary body will respond to the referee’s report.