A human rights official has come forward to apologize for his part in a racial incident involving Chelsea supporters on the Paris Metro.
Video of the incident shows a group of Chelsea fans preventing a black man, who has since been identified as Souleymane S, from boarding a train and chanting, “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.”
The human rights official, Richard Barklie, was one of three men identified by the UK’s Metropolitan Police in the video.
However, Barklie denies any participation in the racism and chanting.
“Pending formal engagement with police our client is anxious to put on record his total abhorrence for racism and any activity associated with it,” his lawyer’s statement reads.
“As someone who has spent years working with disadvantaged communities in Africa and India he can point to a C.V. in human rights work which undermines any suggestion he is racist. Today a senior official in the World Human Rights Forum confirmed their support for him.”
He went on to offer his “sincerest apologies for the trauma and stress suffered by Mr Souleymane,” while saying he “has an account to give to police which will explain the context and circumstances.”
In the meantime, Chelsea has apologized, and Chelsea supporters have rallied to erase the stain of racism. At Chelsea’s first game since the incident last week, fans could be seen holding banners that read “Black or white, we are all blue” and “No racism at the Bridge. That’s the way we like it.”