• Champions League

Five called to court over Chelsea Paris Metro incident

Five men involved in incidents on the Paris Metro ahead of Chelsea's Champions League last-16 first leg at Paris Saint-Germain have been served with summonses, London's Metropolitan Police has said.

Controversy erupted last month when Chelsea fans were filmed singing racist chants and refusing to let a black man on a train ahead of the 1-1 draw in Paris on February 17.

Footage captured by a bystander before the game appeared to show a man - identified as Souleymane S - being pushed back on to the platform amid chants of "we're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it."

The five men will appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on March 25 "regarding a police application for football banning orders," according to Scotland Yard.

A Metropolitan Police statement said the summonses were served on Wednesday and Tuesday.

Football banning orders are issued by courts following a conviction for a football-related offence after a complaint by the Crown Prosecution Service or a local police force, the Home Office website says. They can last for between three and 10 years. Breaches of the orders can result in a sentence of up to six months in prison.

Chelsea said they were "appalled" by the incident on the Paris Metro and apologised to the victim, while Jose Mourinho said he was "ashamed" of the fans involved.

Souleymane S, however, has turned down Chelsea's invitation for him to attend Wednesday's second leg against PSG at Stamford Bridge. He was invited to the game by Mourinho, while some Chelsea fans had been attempting to raise money to pay for his visit to London.

"I won't go. They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child," he is quoted by Sky Sports as telling RTL. "I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me.

"I still hear the voices of those people who pushed me because of the colour of my skin. I can't go to work anymore. I live with racism but it's the first time I've had to go to a doctor to ask for pills to calm myself down."

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