Chelsea supporter insists carriage too full for one more passenger
A Chelsea fan who witnessed a black man being prevented from boarding a train in Paris has defended the actions of the group, insisting they were singing about Blues captain John Terry and that other passengers were blocked from entry.
Chelsea have vowed to support criminal prosecutions and ban any fans after footage, posted on the Guardian website, showed the commuter trying to board a Metro train in the French capital.
He is blocked by what appears to be a group of Chelsea fans travelling to the Parc des Princes for the 1-1 draw with Paris St Germain on Tuesday night.
Mitchell McCoy was one of around 40 or 50 Chelsea supporters on the train and he stated they were singing about Terry, who was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the Football Association in October 2012 for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. In Terry's case, the regulatory commission stated that the Chelsea captain was "not a racist".
McCoy, a season-ticket holder who travelled to Paris with five friends, was named on Twitter following the publication of the video.
The 17-year-old from Fulham in London told Press Association Sport: "I'm not in the video but I'm on the carriage. We got on the train and at the station where the man was trying to get on we stopped for a couple of minutes.
"He tried to get on and a few people were pushing him off because there wasn't much space on the carriage. You couldn't move.
"People were saying it was because he was black. It's not true at all. I personally think it's because he was a PSG fan. Obviously they didn't want him anywhere with us.
"That guy in the video tried to force himself on, so they pushed him off."
A chant of "We're racist and that's the way we like it" is clearly audible on the video, but McCoy contended it was not about the passenger.
He added: "That song was about John Terry. The only words I know is 'he's a racist, he's a racist' and I don't know the rest."
Asked why that song was sung at that moment, he said: "I'm not sure. I didn't sing it.
"It wasn't just that one time that it happened. It wasn't just with the black people that we weren't letting on. There was white people, women that people weren't allowing on. There was no space.
"They were saying, 'You can't get on this carriage, you have to go somewhere else'."
McCoy believes fingers were pointed at him following "a stupid Tweet I did last night, (about) the John Terry song".
He is aware of Chelsea's plan to support any criminal prosecution and hand out banning orders to any supporters found to have offended.
"I wouldn't say (I am) worried, because I haven't done anything wrong, neither has any of my mates," he said.
"I don't see how that can be used against me because I'm not in the video. Of course we're concerned (about being banned). It wouldn't surprise me at all. (But) they ban you for anything. It wouldn't surprise me."
Asked if he would be prepared to help Chelsea identify those involved, McCoy added: "I don't recognise any of them so I wouldn't be much use."
FIFA president Sepp Blatter addressed race issues on Wednesday morning, initially referring to comments from former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi.
"I also condemn the actions of a small group of Chelsea fans in Paris. There is no place for racism in football!" Blatter added.
UK police are investigating the video. A Scotland Yard spokesman said the force is examining the footage to see if it can apply for football banning orders "preventing people from travelling from future matches".
