LONDON -- The victim of racist abuse in a Paris Metro station Tuesday night has said those involved in the incident should not go unpunished.
A video, captured by an eyewitness on his phone, shows a group of Chelsea Football Club supporters refusing to let the man into a Metro car before pushing him out and chanting, "We're racist! We're racist! And that's the way we like it! We like it! We like it!"
French and UK police have opened separate investigations into the incident which happened before a Champions League match in Paris between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
The victim of the attack, Souleymane S., told Le Parisien in an interview published Thursday that he doesn't speak any English but understood he was being attacked because of the colour of his skin.
"You know, I live with racism, I was not really surprised by what happened to me even if it was a first in the subway," he told the paper.
The Paris-born, French-Mauritian father of three, who is the manager of a company near the Richelieu-Drouot station, said at the time he didn't know the incident had been filmed but it has given him the courage to talk to the police about it.
He said that after the incident, which lasted for several minutes, he waited for the next train and returned home, not mentioning it to his wife or children. He said he couldn't tell his children that their father was pushed and shoved on the Metro because he's black.
"These people, these English fans must be found, punished and must be locked up. What happened should not go unpunished," he said.
In a statement, released early Wednesday, Chelsea Football Club called the incident "abhorrent," and said it is considering banning the fans who can be identified in the footage.