China’s FA have issued a warning to Chelsea following Kenedy’s slurs about the country on social media.
The Brazilian winger was sent home from Chelsea’s tour of China and Singapore after posting two offensive Instagram stories. In one post, Kenedy wrote “Fuck you China” and in the other “Wake up China you idiot” in Portuguese. A sleeping security guard is seen in the posts.
So this is what Kenedy posted on his Instagram that has forced Chelsea to issue an official apology to the people of China ..smh pic.twitter.com/DWyvUsOpOa
— BeardedChelseaFC (@BeardedChelsea) July 23, 2017
Fans in China accused the 22-year-old of xenophobia and racism. Kenedy had attempted to apologise but it was considered inadequate. Chelsea consequently issued a longer and more solemn apology on their official website before deciding to send Kenedy home.
“It is a pity because the player was sorry about the situation, which was also a difficult one for the club,” Manager Antonio Conte told reporters after his side’s 3-2 defeat by Bayern Munich at the Singapore National Stadium. “So we made the decision (to send him home) and the player understood his mistake, he’s sorry for what happened and now we must go on.”
China’s FA has since issued a warning to Chelsea regarding the incident. “We have taken notice of the inappropriate behaviour involving Mr Robert Kenedy and the strong reaction of the fans as well as the apologies made by Mr Kenedy himself and Chelsea Football Club,” said a spokeswoman for the Chinese FA.
“We insist that football helps bring peoples together, not apart, builds bridges and friendship, not walls and hatred. A professional player serves as role model of the society and the world at large. We hope the club and the players have learnt a good lesson from the incident.”
