Chelsea Want Fans To Support Their Local Team: No 39 Steps
AS the Premier League champions the idea of exporting ‘The Franchise’ to the foreigners – the so-called 39 Steps – Chelsea stands accused of racism.
No, not for some of the club’s fans making anti-Semitic noises towards their team’s coach Avram Grant and sending the man packages containing a white powder.
No, for the way the fans have been known to “hiss” when they played Tottenham Hotspurs, aka The Yids; and these the same fans who go potty when the team built by Roman Abramovich wins.
The allegations of racism come in light of the club’s preparations for their game against Olympiakos of Athens.
The Sun says “scores of online orders” for tickets have been “scrapped”. A Peter Pakos says: “It’s incredible discrimination. I’m disgusted.”
The Chelsea fan claims to have bought two tickets from the club’s website. He was then sent an email saying his order had been rescinded. He then found out via the website that all “non-members of a Greek nationality” had been banned.
Says Mr Pakos: “Me and my mates may have a Greek background but we’re Chelsea fans through and through.”
We may wonder about the Chelsea policy of ethnically cleansing their fans. We may wonder what would happen to Mr Abramovich should his side play a Russian outfit. And would the family Balack get Chelsea tickets for a Blues’ match in Germany?
We may wonder why any fan feels the need to fret over access to see Chelsea in the Champions League when just 24,793 sat at Stamford Bridge to watch them play Rosenborg in an earlier round. (We may wonder why a London of Greek origins is not suppoting Arsenal – see video.)
But above all we should wonder why in light of the move to the globalisation of Premier League football, Chelsea, a club at the forefront of the Global Brand, should still believe fans support their local team?
Discuss…
Posted: 29th, February 2008 | In: Back pages Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
