Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba has criticised Argentina over the racism row involving current Blues star Enzo Fernandez.
The midfielder has issued an apology over a video he posted which appeared to show him and his team-mates chanting about the France team as they celebrated their Copa America success last weekend.
Chelsea and FIFA are investigating the incident, with Fernandez’s French team-mate Wesley Fofana describing it as “uninhibited racism”.
Argentine, terre d'asile des anciens nazis en cavale. Dès 1945, Peron a accueilli des criminels de guerre. – Libération
Et ça vous étonne… 🤔 https://t.co/9K1dKxES7d
— Demba Ba (@dembabafoot) July 18, 2024
Now Ba, who played for the west London club in the 2013-14 season, has joined in the criticism, posting on X: “Argentina, land of asylum for former Nazis on the run. From 1945, Peron hosted war criminals. And it surprises you…”
Argentina’s sports minister Julio Garro has left his post after he called on Lionel Messi, in his capacity as national team captain, to apologise over the incident.
Javier Milei, the president of the South American country, wrote on X: “The President’s Office reports that no government can tell the Argentina national team, the world champions and two-time Copa America champions, or any other citizen, what to comment, what to think or what to do. For this reason, Julio Garro ceases to be under-secretary of sports.”
Garro said he had not meant to offend anyone, but added that he “will always be on the other side of discrimination in all its forms”.
Former Tottenham and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris described what had happened as “an attack on French people”.
“It doesn’t matter if you are in a moment of euphoria because you have won an important trophy,” he said in quotes reported on the BBC Sport website.
“It demands even more responsibility when you are a winner.
“You don’t want to hear or see this kind of thing in football. We all stand against discrimination and racism.
“I just think and hope it is a mistake. We all make mistakes sometimes and hopefully they will learn from it.
“It was a proper attack about the French people, especially for the French people who have some African origin and family.”
