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
