Chelsea star in hot water after 'F*** China' Snapchat rant

Posted Monday, July 24, 2017 by Dailystar.co.uk

CHELSEA have apologised to the people of China and strongly disciplined one of their stars after a string of insulting social media posts.

Brazilian player Kenedy was booed by Chinese fans in Beijing during Saturday’s demolition of Arsenal.

His side's 3-0 win was overshadowed by the emergence of two videos on social media in which the 21-year-old launched a tirade of xenophobia and racism.

One post was captioned “F*** you China” while another photograph of a sleeping security guard was tagged “Wake up China. You idiot”.

The young star has since apologised for the seemingly unprovoked outburst.

"Hello my friends, just wanna say sorry if someone was sad because I used the expression “porra”, was no racism, just an expression…big hug” he wrote.

But now the Blues have gone one step further, posting their own apology for his actions.

Chelsea star in hot water after 'F*** China' Snapchat rant
ROW: Chelsea have apologised after Kenedy's post

They declared that his behaviour “does not represent the entire team and does not align with the club’s high expectations and strict requirements of its young players”.

The club also said that the winger had been “strongly reprimanded and disciplined” for his actions.

The statement in full reads: "On July 22nd, Chelsea Football Club experienced the warmth and friendliness of Chinese fans at the National Stadium.

"However, we were surprised and disappointed that one day prior to the match, one of our young players, Kenedy, posted messages on his social media account that caused great offence and hurt the feelings of the people of China.

"Unfortunately, even though he quickly deleted the messages and apologised, and the club also apologised via our Chinese social media channels, the damage had already been done.

"Chelsea Football Club once again solemnly and sincerely apologises.

"Kenedy’s actions were a mistake that he will learn greatly from. His behaviour does not represent the entire team and does not align with the club’s high expectations and strict requirements of its young players.

"He has been strongly reprimanded and disciplined.

"Everyone at Chelsea Football Club has the utmost respect and admiration for China and loves our Chinese fans.

"It is because of this that the negative impact we have seen over the last two days has left us shocked and saddened.

"Once again, we sincerely apologise for the hurt caused to our Chinese fans as well as to the Chinese people.

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"The match was a great cultural exchange event between China and Britain and the club is extremely grateful to China for its hospitality, which has brought us closer together in friendship.

“We very much hope to build on our strong relationship with our Chinese fans and friends, joining hands firmly with China in future for further cooperation.

"We offer this apology with utmost sincerity. We have listened carefully to the criticism and will use the lessons learnt over the last two days to improve our processes in future."