Chelsea have described as ‘completely unacceptable’ the social media abuse of Conor Gallagher following footage of the England international in the tunnel with a young black mascot before the Burnley game.
It would be recalled that Gallagher has come under heavy criticism on social media after a clip emerged tending to show that he snubbed a high-five from the enthusiastic young mascot.
Many social media users attributed the incident to racism on the part of the 24-year-old Chelsea captain.
Another picture of the footballer placing his hand on the shoulder of the boy later was shared.
Chelsea went on to draw 2-2 with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
The London club have now released an angry statement where they stated that the incident was taken out of context.
‘Chelsea Football Club is aware of a video clip circulating on social media from Saturday’s fixture against Burnley, which has been taken considerably out of context.
‘The subsequent level of abuse and defamatory comments directed towards Conor Gallagher is completely unacceptable.
‘We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome.’
As Gallagher prepared to lead the team out at Stamford Bridge, the young mascot raised his hand hoping for a handshake. But Gallagher appeared to ignore him and instead put his arm around another – white – mascot standing alongside him in the tunnel.
Even though a later picture showed Gallagher with his arms around both mascots a few seconds after the original clip, his social media has been flooded with accusations he is ‘racist’.
On one recent Instagram post showing Gallagher playing for England last week, comments included ‘the king of racism’, ‘no to racism’ and ‘black lives matter.’
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said at his pre-Manchester United press conference when asked about Gallagher: ‘That has upset me so much. Because no one wants to do something like this, with this intention.
‘When you play football and you are there and focusing to play and start the game, that sometimes can happen. People try to find things to create a mess and to abuse.
‘Conor is a great, great kid and is always caring about everything. I hate that people feel free to abuse on social media.
‘To abuse the people is so easy. So easy. Who thinks the intention of Conor is to ignore a mascot? No one. Come on.’
Opinion remained divided over the alleged snubbing incident. Some agreed Gallagher probably did not see the boy, but some others insisted he knew what he was doing:
@Ealfalasi: “He saw the raised hand from the kid, but he preferred to touch his shoulder!!!! The racism is clear from him and from the opposite player.
Horpe: “Stop trying to force this! He tapped the kids shoulder and clearly didn’t see his hand
@M394AI: “Look at the young boy face at the end, he broke his heart.”
@_R4o_: “When will this dirty racism end?? This arrogant player should be fired”
@hamzeh_zghoul: “It doesn’t seem that he noticed his hand. Stop judging players based on scenes like this”
@_unofficial001: “(He) Ignored the black kid. Okay”
@SoulFairy3: “The guy in the yellow scanning him (the black boy) up and down like he is trash is even crazier, if that’s even at all possible”
See the controversial clip here.
