Fernandez and his Argentina teammates stirred controversy during their Copa America celebrations by singing a derogatory song about several French players. Although Fernandez has apologized for the incident, Chelsea teammate and France international Wesley Fofana criticized the video, calling it “uninhibited racism.”
An internal investigation is currently underway, and Fernandez is expected to meet his Chelsea teammates on Monday as the team continues their pre-season training in the United States.
When asked if the situation could affect team morale at Stamford Bridge, James told ESPN, “Of course. There’s always the factor where it doesn’t sit right with people when there could be a problem. But until the day comes where everyone’s together and in a room together, I don’t know, but I hope things can be resolved smoothly and we can move forward with the season.”
James also shared that he has had a conversation with Fernandez. “I spoke to him a bit, but it was hard because we were on different time zones,” he said. “Just a general chat really. His views on what happened and him trying to explain his situation and how things happened.”
James emphasized, “It’s a really difficult situation. There’s no room for racism or discrimination in football. I think he quickly put his hand up and acknowledged he’d done wrong and apologized to his teammates, the club, and the rest of the people that were offended. I think that was probably the best he could have done in that situation.”
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