No Chelsea action against Fernandez for derogatory song

Chelsea will take no action against Enzo Fernandez for singing a derogatory song about France’s black players, after he apologised to several French team-mates.

Fernandez was accused of “uninhibited racism” by Chelsea team-mate Wesley Fofana for a video posted to his social media account after Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the Copa America final on 14 July.

The Argentina midfielder, 23, landed in Atlanta in the United States on Monday and addressed the incident.

Chelsea instigated an internal disciplinary procedure which is now closed with no action taken, the Press Association reports.

Fernandez has made a voluntary contribution to an anti-discrimination charity. The amount will be matched by Chelsea.

A complaint was also made to world governing body Fifa.

The video Fernandez posted featured a song sung by some of the Argentina squad about France’s black players, which the French Football Federation (FFF) said included an alleged “racist and discriminatory” chant.

Chelsea have seven France players who are black or mixed race in their first-team squad. Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, Malo Gusto and Fofana were all part of the travelling group on Chelsea’s US tour.

Fofana, who has one cap for France, had posted an image of the video on Instagram, describing it as “uninhibited racism”.

BBC Sport understands several players appreciated the initial talks, with new manager Enzo Maresca expected to confirm the imminent return of the £107m midfielder.

Maresca played down the situation when questioned last week in his first media conference as manager, saying he did not think there would be “any problems at all” when Fernandez returned.

Chelsea winger Noni Madueke echoed those comments, saying the situation would “be fine”, but captain Reece James said the circumstances were a “problem” and that he was ready to act as a mediator.

An investigation by Fifa is ongoing and could lead to Football Association (FA) involvement and a potential ban from domestic matches for Fernandez.