Chelsea's Wesley Fofana shares sickening racist messages following red card in Burnley Premier League draw

Chelsea have released a statement lashing out at the "vile" and "appalling" racist abuse suffered by Wesley Fofana following Saturday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Burnley.

The Blues dropped another two precious points in the race for a top-four finish at Stamford Bridge, where an early Joao Pedro opener was cancelled out by a Zian Flemming header in second-half injury time.

Prior to Flemming's leveller, Fofana was sent off for a second bookable offence - Chelsea's ninth red card of the season in all competitions and their sixth in the Premier League, more than any other team.

The Frenchman will now be suspended for the trip to leaders Arsenal next weekend, and he shared screenshots of sickening racist messages he received on social media after the game, with several users of the platform sending him monkey emojis.

Fofana said on his own Instagram story: "2026, it's still the same, nothing changes. These people are never punished. You create big campaigns against racism, but nobody actually does anything."

Chelsea working with authorities after Wesley Fofana suffers racist abuse

Following Fofana's posts, Chelsea issued a statement in support of the defender, insisting that they would cooperate with relevant authorities to ensure that the perpetrators face the "strongest possible action".

"Chelsea Football Club is appalled and disgusted by vile online racist abuse directed at Wesley Fofana," the club said. "The targeted racist abuse Wes has been subjected to following today’s Premier League fixture against Burnley is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.

"Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and runs counter to the values of the game and everything we stand for as a club. There is no room for racism.

"We stand unequivocally with Wes. He has our full support, as do all our players who are too often forced to endure this hatred simply for doing their job. We will work with the relevant authorities and platforms in identifying the perpetrators and take the strongest possible action."

Meanwhile, the Premier League said: "We stand alongside Wesley Fofana and Chelsea in condemning the vile racist abuse he has received on social media.

"Racism has no place in our game or anywhere in society and we will continue to do all we can to support players who are subjected to discriminatory abuse. Football is for everyone."

Burnley's Hannibal Mejbri also received despicable racist messages on social media following the game, to which he responded: "Educate yourself and your kids pls."

What is the latest on the Vinicius Junior/Gianluca Prestianni situation?

Racism in football is always a hot-button topic, but especially now, in the wake of Gianluca Prestianni's alleged abuse of Vinicius Junior during last week's Champions League clash between Benfica and Real Madrid.

Vinicius claimed that the Argentine aimed a racist comment towards him following his opening goal in that 1-0 playoff victory, but Prestianni has denied the accusations and labelled the situation a misunderstanding.

A report from ESPN states that the Benfica attacker has now given evidence to UEFA, alleging that he called Vinicius an anti-gay slur as opposed to the racist term 'mono', meaning monkey in Spanish.

Prestianni faces a 10-game ban if found guilty, but as things stand, the winger will be available for the second leg of Benfica's UCL playoff with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu next week.

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