A week or so ago, TheChelseaBlog ran an article off the back of reports in The Guardian of Chelsea lacking a bit of backbone when it comes to addressing anti-semitism amongst some of its supporters. Today however, in the interests of redressing the balance, it’s time to hear the other side of the argument.
Yesterday, The Guardian carried a letter from Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck in response to the article, which read:
I am writing regarding the comment by your reporter Matt Scott in your edition of 9th September entitled “Chelsea Fans Question Club’s Stance Over Anti-Semitism”. I believe the comment is factually incorrect and is unfair to Chelsea’s position on anti-Semitism.
As your reporter was advised prior to the publication of the article (and your reporter largely chose to ignore) our club has a strong written policy against discrimination including anti-Semitism. Our policy is promoted at the highest levels of our organisation and is included in the training for all matchday personnel.
Of course, having a policy is not enough. Actions speak louder than words.
We regularly ban 15-20 persons per season for violations of our anti-discrimination policy. Two months ago, a Chelsea supporter was charged and found guilty of a racially-aggravated public order offence for using the same anti-Semitic term you claim we ignore.
We have frequently had campaigns in matchday magazines to advise fans of our policy, and resultant punishment. In fact, we are about to launch a new programme entitled “Building Bridges: Help us tackle discrimination at Stamford Bridge”.
Your reporter, in supporting his negative comments on Chelsea, describes two alleged incidents, one of which took place at the DW Stadium in Wigan and the other at Wembley Stadium. He fails to recognise that at both of those venues we have no control over the stewarding, the CCTV cameras, the police or who is or not permitted to enter the stadium.
The facts are that, in each of these two incidents, we received a complaint from one individual in each case (not a “group” as alleged by your reporter). Because these incidents were reported after the fact, it became very difficult to investigate. In one case, the person involved vehemently denied the allegations and there were no corroborating witnesses; in the other situation, the identity of the alleged offender could not be obtained.
Rest assured that, when we can, we will take the strongest possible action against anyone found making any kind of discriminatory chant or taunt. For your reporter to completely ignore the facts and suggest otherwise is unfair and does our club, and the overwhelming majority of our fans, a huge disservice.
Yours faithfully
Bruce M. Buck
Chairman
Whilst I don’t plan to retract the last post – because I maintain there are issues to address in terms of discrimination by a section of our ‘supporters’ – it is important to note that the club do indeed acknowledge this and continue to look for ways to address it.
TheChelseaBlog will therefore be wholeheartedly supporting the “Building Bridges: Help us tackle discrimination at Stamford Bridge” programme.
