Chelsea slam the social media abuse towards Conor Gallagher after a video was ‘taken considerably out of context’, the club say.
Conor Gallagher unintentionally left a mascot hanging when the young child tried to shake his hand before the match between Chelsea and Burnley.
A video circulating on social media shows Gallagher standing in the tunnel, ready to lead his team onto the field at Stamford Bridge.
As he reaches the front of the line, a young mascot extends his hand in an attempt to greet the 24-year-old midfielder.
However, Gallagher seems to overlook the child’s gesture as he engages in conversation with another mascot, while Burnley’s captain Josh Cullen observes the situation.
Chelsea player ignores black child handshake.
24-year-old Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher faces backlash for racist behavior as he deliberately snubbed a handshake from a black child. #Chelsea #NoToRacism #ConorGallagher pic.twitter.com/w85iAkfXgt
— The Global 202 (@theglobal202) March 30, 2024
"How do you know the intention of Conor was to ignore the mascot?"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 3, 2024
Mauricio Pochettino responds to social media abuse aimed at Conor Gallagher for not high-fiving a mascot pre-match. pic.twitter.com/ViczDzbVCS
The club said in a statement on Wednesday (3rd April): “Chelsea Football Club is aware of a video clip circulating on social media from Saturday’s fixture against Burnley, which has been taken considerably out of context.
“The subsequent level of abuse and defamatory comments directed towards Conor Gallagher is completely unacceptable.
“We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome.”
Mauricio Pochettino on the Conor Gallagher abuse: “That’s upset me [the reaction]. No one wants to do something like this with this intention. I know Conor, Conor is a great, great kid. He cares about everything. I hate the people who abuse in social media.”
One supporter noted that Conor Gallagher did eventually acknowledge the mascot, sharing a photo of the midfielder with his arm around him prior to walking down the tunnel.
This photo needs to be seen as much as that video has. Conor Gallagher is no racist by any means.
Save this photo and post it, retweet it. Do whatever. Let’s not allow a 6 second video to create an agenda that’s not true 👍🏻 https://t.co/EwEfpZ3kg5 pic.twitter.com/CxOFGWT4C7
— Jonty (@CarefreeJonty) April 1, 2024
This is how Twitter users reacted as Chelsea slam abuse towards Conor Gallagher after a video was ‘taken considerably out of context’…
@jlb26_ : glad they’re standing up for conor over the ridiculous amount of abuse he’s got for no reason but fuck me you can’t post club statement in the middle of the day and get my hopes up that poch got the sack
@1886_blog: It was completely obvious that Gallagher had no idea what was going on at the time but it’s pretty funny that Chelsea have released a statement attempting to convince people that they aren’t a racist club.
@crapbearddad: This is mental that they’ve had to do this. This is mental how much criticism Conor Gallagher has received from this. This world is now mental!
@TomLevins1: It should NEVER have to come to this – but nevertheless well done for standing up for Conor and our club’s name.
@joeecfc1905: Unbelievable they’ve had to a release a statement for this. Really does go to show the absolute state of these woke fucking mongs amongst us
@InLaymonsTerms: The whole Conor Gallagher thing just proves that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth has put its boots on
@Carefree_Jam: Thank you. It was taken way out of context and those trying to say it was racist, running agendas etc. are being way out of line. People really need to stop trivalising/diluting the significance of racism by claiming racism when there is none. Take it seriously please.
@gustychelsea: Can’t believe they’ve even responded to these strange virgins suggesting Connor has been racist. What a weird time we live in
@breezy_345: Dumbasses getting upset over this, run your stupid agendas but do it honestly. Painting him as a racist was wrong, accusing people of things they didn’t do can have irreparable damag – leave your false accusations, and express the real reasons you would like this man to leave.
@KieranBarrett96: The world’s gone barmy.
@CFCAccountable: Thank you for sharing this statement and standing with our player in the face of the abuse campaign. Labeling everything as racism and bigotry diminishes the actual fight against racism and bigotry.
@C_OConnellSport: Insane that so much has been made of this.
@CharlieP2304: This is shocking theyve even had to release a statement about this.
@falsewinger: This is a good thing to do. Gallagher was targeted for no reason when it’s clear that the poor kid’s Hi5 was accidentally ignored by him and Sterling. Both players had no other intention and there was a lot of fake outrage for nothing. You need such statements to defend the players, not for stupid transfer rumours.
@SonOfChelsea: Love to see this. Defending Conor against the worst parts of this cesspit that for too long has abused players, made up deranged claims against them and created whole accounts to spread toxicity.
The game itself saw Chelsea were twice pegged back by 10-player Burnley; Lorenz Assignon got sent off in the first half, before manager Vincent Kompany was ordered to the stands; Cole Palmer also scored double for Chelsea; while Josh Cullen and Dara O’Shea were on target for the visitors.
Player ratings
Chelsea: Petrovic (6), Gusto (6), Disasi (6), Badiashile (5), Cucurella (6), Caicedo (6), Enzo (6), Palmer (8), Gallagher (6), Mudryk (6), Jackson (6).
Subs: Madueke (5), Sterling, (6), Gilchrist (n/a).
Burnley: Muric (7), Vitinho (6), Esteve (7), O’Shea (7), Assignon (5), Odobert (7), Berge (6), Cullen (8), Larsen (7), Foster (6), Amdouni (6).
Subs: Taylor (6), Brownhill (7), Rodriguez (6), Gudmundsson (6).
Player of the match: Cole Palmer
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino: “I’m really disappointed with way we managed the second half. We didn’t deal with situations.
“We are a team that, when we go forward, we create chances. But not to score with the chances we created – we didn’t show capacity, energy, hunger. That’s the minimum to compete in the Premier League.
“I am so upset and disappointed. It’s more [points to heart and head], than in the legs. You have to be strong as a team. We are slow evolving in this area. It’s not to find excuses, it’s about the team.
“When we don’t have the ball, it’s not the same. Sorry, I’m not happy with our performance without the ball. They are very physical, we need to be strong also. We allowed them to run too much.”
Chelsea forward Cole Palmer: “The changing room is really down. When they went down to 10 men, we were 1-0 up and just got too comfortable. Same story, we kill ourselves every week. It’s got to improve from us as players.
“We had many chances and then that time we defended sloppy. It’s very disappointing. On a personal level it’s good to score two, but if you don’t get the three points they count for nothing.
“I think it’s our consistency all around the pitch, being alive and not switching off like we did today. It’s poor, it can’t happen. Especially when they go down to 10 men.”
Burnley assistant manager Craig Bellamy: “Beyond proud. We all are as staff. Chelsea have a lot of quality, so clearly, when we went down to 10 men, we had to be organised. We still felt there was a possibility of getting into the game.
“The level of commitment and work-rate – the manager has said in the dressing room, he’s beyond proud.
“The players had the attitude of ‘we’re together now’ [after the red card]. Sometimes a moment like that can be really huge and hopefully this has a hugely positive impact for us for the rest of this season.”
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