Jose Mourinho admits he and Chelsea are “ashamed” and owner Roman Abramovich is said to be “disgusted” at the now infamous racist incident involving the club’s fans in Paris this week.
Speaking for the first time about the incident at his weekly press conference on Friday, manager Mourinho said: “We feel ashamed, but maybe we shouldn’t. I refuse to be connected with these people.
“I felt ashamed when I knew what happened. I am connected with Chelsea. I am connected with so many good things. I left Chelsea in 2007 and I could not wait for the moment to come back. It’s not because of people like this that I came back.
“This is not Chelsea FC. But I repeat, I am a proud Chelsea club manager, because I know what this club is. These people don’t represent the club. We apologise to the gentleman.”
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On Tuesday night, a group of Chelsea fans on their way to the Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital refused to allow a black Frenchman to board a Metro train and were captured on video chanting racist slogans.
Chelsea have since suspended three people from attending matches at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho also backed a campaign for the club to invite Souleymane S, the victim of Tuesday’s racist abuse, and his family to London for the second leg of the European tie with PSG and a spokesperson confirmed chairman Bruce Buck had already written to Souleymane.
“He would watch not just the game, he would feel what Chelsea is,” Mourinho said. “Because in this moment maybe he has the wrong idea of what Chelsea football club is.
“We would show Souleymane we are different.
“Chelsea is the owner, the board, the manager, the people who work here. They are the true people who support Chelsea.
“I do not know the gentleman, don’t even know if he loves football, but for sure he would love to feel that the miserable people that had this action, are not Chelsea. I would support him coming.”
Chelsea press officer Steve Atkins was directly asked about Abramovich’s reaction and he replied: “He is disgusted. We have spoken to him and kept him abreast of what is going on. His reaction was that he is disgusted.”
Before Mourinho faced any questions from the media, Atkins issued a club statement on behalf of the club and Abramovich. He said: “I would like to make it clear on behalf of everyone at the club our disgust at the incident on Tuesday.
“We were appalled by what we saw and the club would also like to apologise unreservedly to Soulemayne for the behaviour of the small number of individuals. We have operated fully and we will continue to do so.
“We have also conducted our own investigation and that is being shared with the police. We have suspended three individuals pending completion of investigations.
“It is only right that we complete our investigation to establish all facts. We have taken swift and decisive action. The people involved do not represent Chelsea FC, they do not stand for the values of this club and they have no place in the club ethos.
“This has been echoed by the vast majority of Chelsea supporters. We would like to thank the Chelsea fans who have come forward. We are proud of diversity here and the fight against discrimination.”
When asked if the incident had affected his players, Mourinho, whose side face Burnley at home on Saturday, added: “We have 12-14 players with African connections and over the years this dressing room, I am sure this dressing room has always been a dressing room with big principles of equality.
“We have everything, not just about race, but religion and everything, so the dressing room reacted the same way: with disappointment, obviously condemning the situation and supporting the gentleman involved but always with the feeling that we are ashamed but maybe we should not be because we do not belong to these people.
“Since minute one after the incident, Chelsea has done everything because zero tolerance must be shown. Apart from that we still have to believe we are a great club and we have no space for these people.”
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
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Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
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5.30pm: Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
Winner: Brehaan, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Craving, Connor Beasley, Simon Crisford
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Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
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Winner: Fertile De Croate, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The specs
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
How to increase your savings
- Have a plan for your savings.
- Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
- Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
- It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings.
- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
