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Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has defended his decision to select Enzo Fernández as captain just a month after the Argentina midfielder posted a video containing an allegedly racist chant.
Fernández wore the armband as Chelsea were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in their Premier League opener at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The 22-year-old — who also took a knee before kick-off as part of both teams participating in the Premier League’s ongoing anti-discrimination campaign — was forced to apologise after uploading a video in which he mocked the heritage of some France players following Argentina’s victory over Colombia in last month’s Copa América final.
Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana branded the video “uninhibited racism” at the time but subsequently insisted Fernández was not racist and accepted his apology.
The club have ended their own investigation but FIFA are continuing their own enquiries.
Fernández captained the side in regular captain Reece James‘ absence against Club America in pre-season and Maresca said: “Enzo is one of the captains of this team, he is not the only one. We have Reece [James], we have some more captains.
“The reason why is I can see his teammates recognise him, like a reference, as a captain, and he was already captain in the preseason when we changed Reece in the game.
“All of us make mistakes. It’s important to recognise Enzo did a mistake, recognised the mistake and it’s finished.
“I don’t know about you, but I did some mistakes in the past and I recognised. As a human being, if you do a mistake and you recognise, you are not going to be punished for life. Enzo did a mistake, recognised. For me, he is one of the references and I have nothing to add.”