Chelsea Issue Apology After Kenedy's 'Racist' Social Media Posts Cause Offence in China
Chelsea have issued an apology after recent behaviour from forward Kenedy provoked a hostile response from the Chinese public during the Blues' pre-season trip to Beijing.
Kenedy used the phrase "Porra China" during a social media post, following it up with the expression "Acorda china [sic]. Vacilão" when uploading a photo of a security guard supposedly sleeping on the job.
'Porra' has a similar to the 'F' word in Portuguese, while the second phrase roughly translates to 'wake up China, idiot'.
Chelsea have released a statementcondemning 21-year-old Kenedy's actions, claiming that "the damage had already been done", despite the Brazilian deleting the social media posts.
The statement reads: "On July 22nd, Chelsea Football Club experienced the warmth and friendliness of Chinese fans at the National Stadium.
"However, we were surprised and disappointed that one day prior to the match, one of our young players, Kenedy, posted messages on his social media account that caused great offence and hurt the feelings of the people of China.
"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.
Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
"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.
"We offer this apology with utmost sincerity. We have listened carefully to the criticism and will use the lessons learnt over the last two days to improve our processes in future."
Kenedy has made 22 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea, scoring twice.
