The Chelsea football club owner, Roman Abramovich, and leading players have launched a video and social media campaign to raise awareness of the Holocaust, under the slogan “We Remember”.
The campaign has been launched in the run-up to Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January as the club faces disciplinary proceedings by Uefa over allegations that supporters engaged in racist chanting during a game against Vidi in Hungary last month.
Chelsea is urging people to post on social media photographs of themselves holding #WeRemember signs. It is the third year the club has run a campaign in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress.
The campaign video includes players César Azpilicueta, Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud, the manager, Maurizio Sarri, and Chelsea’s England women’s team players Millie Bright and Hannah Blundell.
“The Holocaust showed the world what can happen when hatred is allowed to thrive unchecked,” the participants say in the 52-second video. Together Chelsea FC and the World Jewish Congress are working together to say no to antisemitism and to giving a red card to hate.
“We must make it clear that there is no place for religious, ethnic, or national-based hate both on and off the pitch. That is why we support the We Remember campaign for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. And you should too.
“If we all learn from our past, we can build a better future for all. Together, we remember.”
Some Chelsea fans have repeatedly made antisemitic comments, chants and gestures in particular when the team plays Tottenham Hotspur, which has a large number of Jewish fans.
Last year, the club launched a “Say No to Antisemitism” campaign, with Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi of the UK, Jewish community leaders and Holocaust survivors taking part in a candle-lighting ceremony.
