Chelsea’s first black footballer Paul Canoville offers to mediate Enzo Fernandez racism row as club investigate Argentina song

Chelsea’s first black footballer Paul Canoville has offered to act as a mediator in the Enzo Fernandez racism row, saying he is open to helping the club through the scandal.

There was fury inside of the Chelsea squad after Fernandez streamed a video on his Instagram showing himself and other members of the Argentinian national team singing an offensive song about France after their Copa America triumph. The 23-year-old has since apologised privately to his fellow players in the hope that they will forgive him as well as publicly on social media.

Chelsea have launched an internal disciplinary procedure into the incident, with this having soured their positive start to pre-season under Enzo Maresca. The new head coach is facing a challenge in reintegrating the £106.8million midfielder into his squad in the coming weeks.

In a statement released by his foundation, Canoville said: ‘There is no room for discrimination of any kind in our society, especially in the sport we all love.

‘My personal experiences of racism and hatred are well known, but I have always said that the way forward is through education and understanding.

 Fernandez filmed a video of the Argentina team singing a racist chant about France 

Fernandez has taken to social media to apologise for his actions after Argentina’s win

‘Given my continued love and support for Chelsea Football Club and the involvement of one of our players in the incident, I have offered to help support any restorative process that might now take place.

‘Through my Foundation, I aim to help people learn through the lens of my experiences before, during and after the abuse I received while playing football, including being able to offer forgiveness where deserved.’

The foundation also condemned the Argentinian chant as ‘unacceptable and discriminatory’.

The Argentine’s Chelsea team-mate Wesley Fofana was one of the first to publicly condemn it