Man racially abused by Chelsea fans to attend PSG rematch
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PARISFeb 13, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
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Feb 13, 2016 12:00 am
One year after Chelsea fans spewed racist profanity at him in a Paris metro station, Souleymane Sylla is being invited to attend the Champions League rematch between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain next Tuesday. The 33-year-old father of three was violently pushed out of a train numerous times last February by English fans as they chanted, "we're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it." Video footage of the incident was taken by bystanders and later used in court.Sylla is expected to attend the Champions League's last 16, first-leg tie in Parc des Princes after receiving an invitation from anti-racism groups. "PSG (Sportitude and SOS Racism) invited me and I am happy to attend," he told the French daily Le Parisien.
"I want to show the English - especially my attackers - that I'm still here and doing well, even if the wound that was inflicted on me that night has not yet healed."
In July, four Chelsea supporters were banned from attending football matches by an English court, but deny participating in racist chanting, saying that the train was simply too crowded.
A district judge has banned them due to "compelling" video footage presented as evidence in the case.
Former police officer Richard Barklie, 50, Joshua Parsons, 20, and William Simpson, 26, were all banned from attending football matches for the maximum five years while Jordan Munday, 20, was banned for three years. "There are two sides to this; on one hand, individuals in Great Britain were given stadium bans. On the other, individuals in Paris are still under investigation for a racist assault on public transit by a group of people," Sylla's lawyer Jim Michel-Gabriel said.
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