Chelsea FC faced a crisis when player John Terry was accused of and found guilty of racially abusing another player. The club initially supported Terry while also recognizing racism is unacceptable. Media coverage remained neutral while anti-racism organizations condemned racism in football. Recommendations included Chelsea providing more detailed responses, working with anti-racism groups, and using the crisis as an opportunity to promote eradicating racism.

1. Chelsea Football Club
Crisis Analysis

2. Introduction
• Henry Augustus Mears “built a team for a
stadium, rather than the other way round”
• Born on March 10, 1905
• Originally elected to the 2nd Division by the
Football League AGM
• Celebrated their 1st major success in 1955
winning the Championship
• Now plays in the Premier League
• Roberto Di Matteo is manager & 1st team coach

3. Introduction Cont.
• Home stadium is Stamford Bridge, located in
Fulham, London
• Team Captain: John Terry
• October 23, 2012, Chelsea FC lost to Queens
Park Rangers (QPR)
• An argument arose between Terry and QPR
defender Anton Ferdinand towards the end of
the game
• Proof of Terry making racial slur via viral
YouTube video

4. Responses to the Crisis:
Organizational Response
• Terry immediately issued a statement about the
racial abuse towards Ferdinand
• Both Terry & Chelsea FC state the comments
were taken out of context & the incident got out
of hand
• Chelsea FC & QPR say they fully support their
player
• Ferdinand spoke a few days after the incident
expressing the days they have been ‘crazy’ but
moments like these define you

5. Responses to the Crisis:
Organizational Response Cont.
• Terry originally charged with racially aggravated
public order offence
• Charges were eventually dropped but Terry was
found guilty of misconduct by the Football
Association (FA)
• Terry chose not to appeal the decision
• Chelsea FC supports Terry in his choice not to
appeal & is thankful for his public apology
• The club recognized Terry’s actions were not
appropriate & will take further action as needed

6. Responses to the Crisis:
Media Response
• Many news sources followed Terry case, 2 main
ones were:
▫ The Guardian
▫ ESPN
• The majority of stories remained neutral on the
subject
• One author believed the FA took too much time
making a final decision, thus football suffered
the affects

7. Responses to the Crisis:
Stakeholders Response
• Two anti-racist organizations responded to the
incident:
▫ Kick It Out, supports their campaign Lets Kick Racism
Out of Football
▫ Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC), organized events
for Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) action
weeks in October
• The Professional Footballer Association (PFA)
should have accepted an apology from Terry earlier
to settle the incident sooner
• Chairman of FA believes England football has
damaged reputation

8. Recommendations
• Chelsea FC worked to recognize the crisis, issue
statements when necessary & maintain a neutral
voice
• The club remained balanced between supporting
Terry & anti-racism actions but did no provide
many details during the trial process
• In the future, Chelsea FC should consider
providing more detailed statements regarding
the crisis

9. Recommendations Cont.
• Details about further investigating the matter
should be given
• The club should consider working with
organizations like Kick It Out & Show Racism
the Red Card to promote anti-racism programs
• Chelsea Football Club missed the opportunity to
turn this crisis around and make it something
positive about how & why eradicating Racism is
important