Soccer thugs 'push man off Metro'

CHELSEA Football Club has warned that it will ban any 'supporters' who chanted racist slogans as they pushed a black man off a train on the Paris Métro before the first leg of the club’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain yesterday.

Mobile phone footage filmed from the platform of the Richelieu-Drouot station and sent to The Guardian newspaper shows the man twice being shoved out of the door of a train he is trying to board. A chant, which includes the line: “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it” can be heard on the film.

One voice is also heard singing: “Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea.”

Briton Paul Nolan, who works in the French capital and who filmed the incident on his phone, told the newspaper that he also heard references to World War Two, and that he overheard someone talk about stabbing another person.

In a statement, the club said: “Such behaviour is abhorrent and has no place in football or society. We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members, the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”

The incident could result in a fine and a warning for the club from the Champions League’s governing body Uefa.

Paris police also reportedly used teargas to stop scuffles involving Chelsea fans outside Parc des Prince before the game. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Image: Paul Nolan / The Guardian screengrab