Monday 18 March 2019 16:59, UK
UEFA is investigating alleged racist abuse of Callum Hudson-Odoi in Chelsea's Europa League tie at Dynamo Kiev.
Chelsea say one of their players was racially abused by Kiev supporters during the second leg of the last-16 tie in Ukraine, which finished 5-0 to the Premier League club.
During the last two minutes of the match, winger Hudson-Odoi, 18, brought the incident - understood to have been monkey chants from a small group of home supporters in the corner of the end Chelsea were attacking - to the attention of team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta.
Shortly after the final whistle, defender Azpilicueta went up to referee Tobias Stieler to complain about the abuse and pointed out the section of the ground where the abuse had come from.
When Hudson-Odoi left the pitch, he told the club of the incident.
Once they had established what they believed to be the facts, chairman Bruce Buck and club secretary David Barnard reported it to the UEFA match delegate - who was the most senior UEFA representative at the game.
It is understood that Hudson-Odoi is very happy with the way Chelsea and club captain Azpilicueta reacted after he reported the abuse.
Chelsea officials spoke to Hudson-Odoi in the dressing room after the game to make sure that he was happy with the way they had dealt with the incident and to ask if he needed any help or support.
He said he was happy with the way it had been handled and a joint decision was made not to release an immediate statement.
With the matter included in both the referee's report and being highlighted to UEFA, the governing body is now investigating.
"We can confirm a report of racist abuse directed at one of our players in the final minutes of the match in Kiev from a small section of home supporters. We wholeheartedly condemn such abhorrent behaviour," a Chelsea statement read.
"The matter was reported to the referee at the final whistle and the chairman and club secretary spoke to the UEFA match delegate immediately after the match. We expect UEFA to conduct a fulsome investigation and we will provide full cooperation."
