Former Premier League striker Carlton Cole has called out Lionel Messi in the wake of the Argentina racism row. Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez recorded himself and some of his teammates taking part in a offensive chant directed at French people after Argentina lifted the Copa America.
The ex-Benfica man issued a public apology for the incident after several of his Chelsea teammates condemned his actions online. Wesley Fofana was among the Blues’ players to put out a post on social media to state that such situations should never occur.
Cole – who used to play for Chelsea and West Ham – has now given his strong feelings on the matter, pointing at Messi’s silence.
Carlton Cole Brands Messi ‘Selfish’
He believes the captain should taken responsibility
Messi was one of the Argentine players reported to not have been on the bus at the time of the chanting, but Cole is still adamant that La Albiceleste’s captain should have taken a public stance as the leader of the team. Talking to talkSPORT, the ex-striker claimed:
“We’ve got a look at Messi and you say, you know what, Messi come out. We need to hear you. I need you to. You’ve got to speak up about this. Because this is more than Enzo. Messi is the main guy there. He’s the captain. He needs to come out and say something about this behaviour.”
The 40-year-old went on to say: “Otherwise, it’s just like he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care how I feel, he doesn’t care how some of his black teammates he’s had in the past feel. That just shows me that he’s selfish. He needs to come out and say something. I condemn him. Simple. I condemn Messi.”
The strong claims were backed up by talkSPORT’s South American correspondent Tim Vickery, who added: “That’s the job as a captain isn’t it? If you’re the captain, you’ve got to lead. If there was ever a need for leadership it’s right here, right now, with Argentina. So the ball’s in his court, there’s been nothing so far, and that’s bad. Please, please step up Messi. The world is looking at you to do that.”
Chelsea Open Investigation
He faces a hefty fine at least
Following several first-team players making their feelings clear on the incident involving their teammate, Chelsea have begun disciplinary proceedings against Fernandez. It is yet to be seen if he will be suspended by his employers or simply handed a substantial fine, but it’s likely his colleagues will be interested in seeing the outcome.
FIFA are also said to be looking into the situation after the France Football Federation stated an intent to lodge an official complaint to the governing body. Julio Garro – Argentinian undersecretary for sport – lost his job after claiming Messi should publicly apologise for what his teammates did.
Fernandez and his fellow teammates who appeared in the video will face a nervous wait in the coming days and weeks to see what their respective clubs and FIFA decide to do.