London clubs Chelsea and Arsenal travel over 2,800 miles for the Europa League Final this week, with a small number of fans also going along to shout abuse at each other.
There were initial fears over the history of racist abuse that would be faced, and the human rights abuses dished out, but a spokesman for Baku has insisted that, despite this, Chelsea’s fans will be welcome in the city.
Recent incidents of Chelsea fans making friends across Europe include their abuse of a black passenger on a train in Paris, and the systematic destruction of a Muslim’s coffee shop in Munich. Chelsea fans have also recently made their feelings very clear on the colour of skin sported by Manchester City player Raheem Sterling.
Baku is looking forward to welcoming Chelsea fans to its city, and is hoping to learn from their attitudes towards foreigners. A spokesman commented:
We invite Chelsea’s small army of fans to make themselves at home. We have many foreign-looking locals they can abuse, and cafes they can smash up. It should be a good night.
Despite being allocated 6,000 tickets for each club, both clubs returned tickets as the vast majority of their armchair fans didn’t want leave the confines of the M25. Instead they’ve chosen to shout abuse at each other while remaining in London.
A Baku spokesman also added:
We’re looking forward to hearing Chelsea fans sing their array of great songs. I especially like the one that goes ‘Chelsea… Chelsea… Chelsea’
