Chelsea fans convicted of racist violence, given suspended prison sentences
Four of Chelsea's supporters were convicted of racist violence Tuesday, nearly two years after a black man was prevented from boarding a Paris Metro train.
A tie between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in the 2014-15 Champions League was marred by racism when the Guardian published a video in which Souleymane Sylla was kept from boarding a Paris Metro Train at the Richelieu-Drouot stop. During the incident, supporters of the Blues chanted: "we're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it."
The video, filmed by a British man named Paul Nolan, was viewed across the planet, and politicians in both France and the United Kingdom condemned the incident.
Related - Watch: Chelsea supporters keep black man from boarding Paris Metro, follow with racist chant
As the Guardian's Angelique Chrisafis explains, only two of the four men accused attended the criminal trial at the Palais de Justice, but all four were given suspended prison sentences and ordered to pay the victim €10,000 (£8,500) in total. The men include:
- Joshua Parsons, 22 (eight-month suspended prison sentence)
- James Fairbairn, 25 (six-month suspended prison sentence)
- William Simpson, 37 (12-month suspended prison sentence)
- Richard Barklie (12-month suspended prison sentence)
Sylla, a 35-year-old salesman from Paris, was trying to get home from work when the racist attack took place. He said in 2016 he was willing to speak to Chelsea's supporters following an open invitation to Stamford Bridge, saying: "If Chelsea fans want to speak to me I'll speak to them - they're people after all." His lawyer, Jim Michel-Gabriel, referred to the crime as the definition of "hatred and unashamed racism."
With the exception of Fairbairn, who was given a three-year banning order, all those convicted were banned from fixtures involving Chelsea and England for five years.