Chelsea fan defends Paris Metro racism incident

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 19 February 2015

A Chelsea supporter who witnessed a black man being refused entry onto a train in Paris believes that there was a valid reason behind the racist incident.

A Chelsea supporter has defended the actions of a group of Blues fans who prevented a black man from boarding a train in Paris.

Footage of the incident emerged on Tuesday night showing the commuter being repeatedly shoved off the metro, before chants of "We're racist, we're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it" could be heard.

The incident was quickly commented on by the club, who promised to take strong action against anyone identified in the clip, while British prime minister David Cameron has also condemned those involved.

One of the Chelsea fans on the station at the time, 17-year-old Mitchell McCoy, believes that there was a valid reason why the man in question was blocked from entering the train.

"I'm not in the video but I'm on the carriage," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "We got on the train and at the station where the man was trying to get on we stopped for a couple of minutes. He tried to get on and a few people were pushing him off because there wasn't much space on the carriage.

"You couldn't move. People were saying it was because he was black. It's not true at all. I personally think it's because he was a PSG fan. Obviously they didn't want him anywhere with us. That guy in the video tried to force himself on, so they pushed him off."

Asked about the prominent chant, McCoy added: "That song was about John Terry. The only words I know is 'he's a racist, he's a racist' and I don't know the rest."

Chelsea went on to pick up a 1-1 draw from their Champions League last-16 meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.