Chelsea lodge complaint to Uefa over Hudson-Odoi racial abuse

Taking to their official website on Monday afternoon, Chelsea have confirmed that they have formally lodged a complaint to Uefa regarding racist abuse directed at winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The former Premier League champions have stated that the incident occurred in their Europa League victory over Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine last week.

Featuring and scoring the Blues’ fifth in the Olympic Stadium, Hudson-Odoi alleged to have been on the receiving end of monkey chants from a section of Kiev supporters towards the end of the game.

Can reveal #cfc made a formal complaint to UEFA last Thursday after Callum Hudson-Odoi was victim of racist abuse during game against Dynamo Kiev. Full story on @standardsport shortly.

— Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) March 18, 2019

 

Chelsea demand investigation following Hudson-Odoi racism chants

Following the full-time whistle in Ukraine last Thursday, the England U21 starlet brought the incident to the attention of teammate and Chelsea club captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

Moments after booking their spot in the quarter-finals of this year’s Europa League, the Spanish international defender spoke to the referee, Tobias Stieler, and pointed out to the German official the area of the ground where the noise had allegedly come from.

Chelsea Chairmen Bruce Buck and club secretary David Barnard also reported it to the Uefa delegate for the match.

Taking to their official website on Monday, Chelsea released a short statement regarding the incident and called for the governing body to undertake a full investigation.

“We can confirm a report of racist abuse directed at one of our players in the final minutes of the match in Kiev from a small section of home supporters.

“We wholeheartedly condemn such abhorrent behaviour. The matter was reported to the referee at the final whistle and the chairman and club secretary spoke to the Uefa match delegate immediately after the match. We expect Uefa to conduct a [thorough] investigation and we will provide full cooperation.”

With the matter included in both the referee’s report and being highlighted to Uefa, the governing body is now set to investigate and Chelsea said they would provide full co-operation.

Hudson-Odoi’s goal in Kyiv was his fourth in the Europa League and made his seventh competitive start of the season in his team’s 5-0 win. Chelsea will play Slavia Prague in the competition’s quarter-finals next month.

As for the Hudson-Odoi, the young forward will be boosted by the news that he has been called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the first time.

The 18-year-old was originally with the U21s, but has now joined the rest of Southgate’s side as they prepare for the European Qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.

 

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