Chelsea apologise ‘to Chinese people’ after Kenedy slur

LONDON: Chelsea apologised “to Chinese people” on Sunday after their Brazilian full-back Kenedy posted two videos on Instagram insulting the Asian powerhouse which is also one of the club’s biggest markets.

Kenedy, 21, has been disciplined and reprimanded by the Premier League champions after posting the videos, one of which contained a profanity and the other featured a sleeping security guard accompanied by the words: “Wake up China. You idiot”.

The posts were later deleted from his account.Chelsea said they had been warmly received at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing where they had enjoyed a 3-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday and had been shocked by Kenedy’s posts.

“Chelsea football club apologise to Chinese people for player’s offensive social media posts,” said a club statement which appeared in English and Chinese.“Kenedy’s actions were a mistake that he will learn greatly from. His behaviour does not represent the entire team and does not align with the club’s high expectations and strict requirements of its young players. He has been strongly reprimanded and disciplined.

“Everyone at Chelsea Football Club has the utmost respect and admiration for China and loves our Chinese fans.“It is because of this that the negative impact we have seen over the last two days has left us shocked and saddened. Once again, we sincerely apologise for the hurt caused to our Chinese fans as well as to the Chinese people.”

Kenedy, who Chelsea signed from Brazilian club Fluminense in 2015, made three appearances last season.The next leg of Chelsea’s Asian tour takes them to Singapore where they will play Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.  —AFP