TA: Four former players were racially discriminated against and Chelsea agreed to pay 6 figures in compensation to each

According to The Athletic exclusive report, Chelsea have agreed to pay compensation to four former players who claimed to be victims of "racist bullying" in the 1990s and filed a civil lawsuit against Chelsea.

After intensive negotiations between the two teams of lawyers last week, the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement on Monday morning local time, and before that, the London High Court will hold a pre-trial hearing.

According to The Athletic, the four former Chelsea players will be compensated in six figures.

Chelsea want to avoid a trial from the High Court, and the club has withdrawn itself from the legal team of the insurance company that normally controls these matters and deals with the matter independently.

David McLennah, a partner at Bolt Burdon Kemp, a law firm representing the plaintiffs, said in court on Monday local time: "We are grateful to have been given extra time. We are pleased to inform you that the parties have reached a settlement agreement and that there is no need for pre-trial at this time. ”

The trial, which was scheduled for March 7, will last five weeks and will be testified by 62 witnesses, including famous players who played or worked for the team during the Ken Bates era.

According to high court documents, the young black players were punched and kicked by their own coaches and suffered other attacks. One of the black players said he had been repeatedly beaten by the club's youth coach, Graham Rix. In addition, he was beaten several times by the club's head of youth player development, Gwyn Williams.

According to The Athletic, Graham Rix denied all the allegations against him, while Gwyn Williams admitted to using racist language, but he submitted evidence to the court to prove he was not malicious, while he denied attacking any players. Both have declined to comment on The Athletic for now.

Chelsea, through lawyers from its insurance company, denied substitution liability, even though they had previously embraced the racist culture that existed within the club at the time elsewhere – in fact, a public apology two years earlier.

A Chelsea spokesman said: "The club are delighted to be able to reach a resolution of these claims without any further litigation. We will continue to support the relevant former players through our dedicated player support services. "

（Thomas）