English club Chelsea last night prevented three men from entering Slavia Prague’s Sinobo Stadium for their Europa League quarter-final first leg clash in Prague after a video appeared online showing them singing an abusive song about Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah.
The video which was circulated on social media before the game showed the group chanting “Salah is a bomber” repeatedly. Three of the six people in the video were identified and barred.
Chelsea are working to identify the other three, who did not turn up. All six will face bans from the club if they are found to be season ticket holders or members. The club released a statement during the match, saying the club finds “all forms of discriminatory behaviour abhorrent”.
Reacting to the incident, Liverpool said the video showed “vile discriminatory chants” and was “dangerous and disturbing”. The incident comes just before both teams meet on Sunday in a top of the table Premier League clash at Anfield.
Usually a charged affair, this occasion will be especially emotional for Liverpool who will use the occasion to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.