Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior was asked about racism following allegations made against Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior says any player or coach found guilty of racism should be kicked out of football.
Rosenior was speaking in response to allegations made against Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni that he used a racist slur towards Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr during the Champions League game between the sides on Tuesday night. Prestianni has denied any wrongdoing.
UEFA has opened an investigation and Madrid today announced they have released all evidence that supported Vinicius’ case.
Rosenior said: “If any player or coach is ever found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game.”
He also dismissed suggestions from former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, now head coach at Benfica, that Vinicius Jr had incited the crowd at the Estadio da Luz with the celebrations that followed his goal as Madrid won the first leg of the play-off 1-0.
He added: ”Regardless of how a player celebrates, race should never come into it.
“I don’t know the context of the situation in which Jose [Mourinho] said what he said, so I won’t make a judgement on it. I won’t make judgement until I get the facts.”
Rosenior admits to have suffered from racism
Rosenior has risen to one of the top jobs in English football but admitted he had suffered racism along the way.
And the 41-year-old said it is the “worst thing” to be treated differently based purely on the colour of your skin.
“It’s upsetting. Always, there needs to be context to it,” he said. “What I will say, you can see any form of racism in society, not just football, is unacceptable.
“I have been racially abused myself. I know people that have and what people need to understand is, when you are judged for something you should be proud of, it is the worst thing. If any player, any coach or any manager is found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game. It’s as simple as that.
“A lot of things [need to change], this is a very complex situation when you speak about race or gender. There are a lot of things that need to change in society.
“It sickens me to be honest. I think there’s a wider debate than football. I think there needs to be more accountability for these things that need to be stamped out.”
Rosenior – there’s a lot of division
Rosenior also called on social media and the press to help, rather than divide.
“There’s a lot of division,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in the media who make prejudgements on people or how they behave or who they are based on their sexual orientation, what country they come from, what religion they are, what colour of skin they have.
“I think it’s a wider debate than just football.
“I think people should be held a lot more accountable than they are at the moment, in terms of social media, in terms of the press, to make sure that these things are stamped out because everybody should be judged equally based on the content of their character.”
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