WHAT OCCURRED?
The footage captures Gallagher in the Stamford Bridge tunnel ahead of his team’s Premier League match against Burnley last week. A young mascot extends their hand for a high five, but Gallagher opts to lightly tap their shoulder before turning to acknowledge another mascot nearby
Following the circulation of the video, accusations of racism were leveled against Gallagher, suggesting he intentionally ignored the first mascot, who is black. Chelsea, however, have refuted these claims, asserting that the video was misconstrued and taken out of context
Chelsea Football Club responded to the incident with an official statement, acknowledging the video circulating on social media from the Burnley fixture. They emphasized that the clip was significantly misrepresented and taken out of context. The club condemned the abusive and defamatory comments directed towards Conor Gallagher, reaffirming their commitment to being a diverse and inclusive organization where individuals of all backgrounds feel embraced and respected
Mauricio Pochettino has stepped in to support Conor Gallagher amid the backlash on social media for his failure to high-five a mascot. Chelsea issued a statement condemning the “completely unacceptable” defamatory comments towards Gallagher and clarified that the incident was taken out of context. The incident took place in the tunnel just before kick-off during Chelsea’s match against Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Gallagher apparently missing the outstretched hand of one of the mascots.
Pochettino unequivocally rejected any suggestion of deliberate wrongdoing by the player and condemned the online reaction to the incident
It deeply concerns me,” he stated. “No one intends to act in such a manner. When you’re mentally preparing for a match, these things can happen unintentionally.”People are always eager to exploit situations to cause trouble. I know Conor personally. Honestly, there’s never any malicious intent. Conor is a fantastic person who consistently demonstrates thoughtfulness in all his actions. It’s disgraceful how some individuals feel justified in hurling abuse on social media.”Our duty is to strive to disregard such occurrences. Those who perpetuate these actions only serve to disrupt our lives and do not warrant attention.”The issue with social media today is its obligatory nature for communication. Your worth is gauged by your follower count, and it assigns a value to you within society. This is where the problem lies. We’re witnessing numerous societal injustices stemming from this