Liam Rosenior says no place in football for anyone found guilty of racism

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said anyone in football who is found guilty of racism “should not be in the game.”

On Tuesday, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior briefly refused to return to the field after alleging he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League game in Lisbon.

The Portuguese side have since defended their player, claiming there is a “defamation campaign” against him, whilst manager Jose Mourinho accused Vinicius of provoking the incident with his celebration of a goal.

Prestianni, who has denied directing racial abuse at the Brazilian, could face a minimum 10-match ban from European competition if found guilty.

Rosenior though, whilst not commenting on the case directly, believes authorities must take a firmer stance against racism.

“It’s upsetting,” he said. “There’s context that needs to be had in terms of this situation. What I will say…any form of racism in society is unacceptable. I cannot speak about an incident where an investigation is ongoing.

“What I would say is when you see a player upset how Vinicius Junior was upset, normally they’re upset for a reason. I’ve been racially abused myself.

“What people have to understand is when you are judged for something you should be proud of, it is the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine. There are historical things to racism.

“I need to, as manager of this club, make my statement on it.

“If any coach, player or manager is ever found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game. It’s as simple as that for me.”

Rosenior, who is of mixed heritage, wrote an open letter to US president Donald Trump in June 2020, published in the Guardian, in the days after the murder by a police officer of George Floyd in Minneapolis, an event that helped fan the global Black Lives Matter movement.

In it, he referred to “an unjust, corrupt and fundamentally prejudiced society” in America that was a part of a centuries-old legacy of racism.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s game at home to Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday, he returned to the theme of a wider problem of discrimination in society.

During last week’s FA Cup game away to Hull, home supporters could be heard chanting homophobic slurs directed against visiting fans.

Tuesday’s incident was not the first time Vinicius had been the victim of racist abuse. He has spoken out multiple times against racism he has been subjected to inside stadiums, saying in November 2024: “I play in Spain, where I suffered a lot and still suffer.”

In June of that year, three Valencia fans were jailed for eight months for racially abusing Vinicius during a LaLiga game in May 2023, in the first verdict of its kind in Spain.

“This is a very, very complex situation,” said Rosenior. “When you speak about discrimination or race or gender.

“There are a lot of things need to change in our society. I’m not talking about football. There’s a lot of division. There’s a lot of people in the media make prejudgements on people based on sexual orientation, what country they come from, what religion they are, what colour skin they have.

“It sickens me, to be honest. It’s a wider debate than just football. People need to be held a lot more accountable than they are in terms of social media, in terms of the press, to make sure these things are stamped out.

“Everybody should be judged equally based on the content of their character.”