Fikayo Tomori has warned it will be a long and “gradual process” to try and stop racism within football. Chelsea defender Tomori was talking for the first time since being part of the England squad which suffered racist abuse in Bulgaria last week. Tomori also had strong views after the shameful scenes which led to both Haringey Borough and Yeovil walking off in protest at racist abuse during their FA Cup tie on Saturday. “Racism wherever it is is not a laughing matter and is something that needs to be kicked out of the game,” said Tomori. “It’s a gradual process. It’s not going to stop overnight and we just have to keep on drumming it into people that it’s not acceptable. “Obviously it (Bulgaria) was a difficult experience. What we wanted to do was just play our football, to win the game. That’s what we did. When stuff like that happens you have to try and block it out even though it is so blatant. “We just wanted to go out there, play our game and win the game. The manager spoke to us after and said there was help there if needed. It’s just one of those things that happened.” Tomori also emphasised the importance of Chelsea not losing in Ajax because their Group is on a knife edge but insists he will embrace the pressure. He added: “For sure, we are a young team and we always talk about playing in the Champions League. These are the kind of games we have to be playing in. High pressure games. “We’re excited and we’re relishing the opportunity and hopefully tomorrow we can go out and put in a good performance to put ourselves in a good position for the next round of group games.” Meanwhile, the Chelsea Pride fan group have called for long-standing fan Dave Johnstone to stand down from his position as co-chair of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust group after homophobic comments emerged on social media. Johnstone, who has edited a fanzine and is well known by the club’s players and staff, insists the comments have been taken out of context. Chelsea insist that the Trust is an independent fans’ group.
Fikayo Tomori admits it will be 'gradual process' to eliminate racism from football
Fikayo Tomori has warned it will be a long and “gradual process” to try and stop racism within football. Chelsea defender Tomori was talking for the first time since being part of the England squad which suffered racist abuse in Bulgaria last week. Tomori also had strong views after the shameful scenes which led to both Haringey Borough and Yeovil walking off in protest at racist abuse during their FA Cup tie on Saturday. “Racism wherever it is is not a laughing matter and is something that needs to be kicked out of the game,” said Tomori. “It’s a gradual process. It’s not going to stop overnight and we just have to keep on drumming it into people that it’s not acceptable. “Obviously it (Bulgaria) was a difficult experience. What we wanted to do was just play our football, to win the game. That’s what we did. When stuff like that happens you have to try and block it out even though it is so blatant. “We just wanted to go out there, play our game and win the game. The manager spoke to us after and said there was help there if needed. It’s just one of those things that happened.” Tomori also emphasised the importance of Chelsea not losing in Ajax because their Group is on a knife edge but insists he will embrace the pressure. He added: “For sure, we are a young team and we always talk about playing in the Champions League. These are the kind of games we have to be playing in. High pressure games. “We’re excited and we’re relishing the opportunity and hopefully tomorrow we can go out and put in a good performance to put ourselves in a good position for the next round of group games.” Meanwhile, the Chelsea Pride fan group have called for long-standing fan Dave Johnstone to stand down from his position as co-chair of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust group after homophobic comments emerged on social media. Johnstone, who has edited a fanzine and is well known by the club’s players and staff, insists the comments have been taken out of context. Chelsea insist that the Trust is an independent fans’ group.
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