Despite continuing disciplinary processes regarding allegations of racism, Noni Madueke declares that “everything is going to be fine” when Enzo Fernandez rejoins Chelsea’s squad.
On Monday, July 29, midfielder Fernandez is scheduled to return to the club. Wesley Fofana, a teammate of Fernandez’s who plays for the Blues, has accused the 23-year-old of engaging in “uninhibited racism”.
The French Football Federation expressed its horror at seeing images of players singing what it called a “racist and discriminatory” song following Argentina’s Copa America victory.
The song’s lyrics cast doubt on the ancestry of the black and mixed-race athletes in France.
Since then, Fernandez has publicly apologized as well as individually apologized to his Chelsea teammates, six of whom are Frenchmen of African heritage.
The club has also started an internal disciplinary process. Fifa, the global governing body of football, has also launched an inquiry.
In the first preseason friendly under new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s leadership, Madueke started the match 2-2 with Wrexham. He claims he and his teammates would handle the matter internally.
The 22-year-old Madueke stated, “That’s something that’s between us players.” “Enzo is going to come back and join his team again and everything is going to be fine.”
Those comments followed the words of Maresca, who said earlier on Chelsea’s pre-season tour that the situation was “already clear and clarified” and that there would not be “any problems at all”.
Captain Reece James has signalled his readiness to act as a mediator, if required, as Chelsea continue their run of games in the United States, with matches against Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real Madrid to come.
Madueke, who typically plays on the right wing, explained that he and his Chelsea team-mates are focusing on adapting to Maresca’s style of football, a shift from former manager Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge.
“You’ve got to stay high and wide and be very patient at times [as a winger],” he said.
“A lot of the time you might not get touches in lower areas of the pitch, but it’s about staying high and waiting for that killer pass when you can go and do real damage.
“It’s about being patient and waiting for the opportunity to run and do my stuff.”