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Kenedy banished from Chelsea's tour after offending Chinese fans

Darren Walsh / Chelsea FC / Getty

Warning: Story contains coarse language

Disgraced winger Kenedy was sent home from Chelsea's pre-season tour of Asia before Tuesday's friendly against Bayern Munich after upsetting locals on social media.

Fans of the club accused the winger of xenophobia and racism when he posted two videos on his Instagram account last week. One was simply accompanied by a caption which translated as "Fuck you China," according to the Guardian, while another was a clip of sleeping security guard which was tagged: "Wake up China. You idiot."

Kenedy, 21, submitted an apology after Saturday's 3-0 friendly win over Arsenal, claiming that he isn't racist and that his use of "porra" was "just an expression" lost in translation. The Guardian noted that Kenedy was booed during the Arsenal meeting.

Chelsea then issued its own statement on Sunday to apologise for the Brazilian's abominable social media use, before confirming Kenedy had returned to the U.K. two days later.

"Kenedy has returned to the U.K. and will play no further part in the pre-season tour of Asia," read Tuesday's development, stowed away at the bottom of team news for the Bayern Munich tilt.

His expulsion came after the People's Daily, a newspaper with close ties to the Communist Party, published an editorial which said Kenedy had "humiliated China" with comments that are "not only impolite, but also uneducated."

Chelsea noted in its earlier disclosure that Kenedy had been "strongly reprimanded and disciplined" for his offensive words about China, but his future at the club could now be in jeopardy. He was sent home early from a season-long loan at Watford last term after a string of injury problems, and on his return to Chelsea only appeared in the FA Cup against Brentford and in the club's last Premier League tie of the campaign against Watford in May.

Kenedy was signed from Fluminense for around £6.3 million in 2015, and has 16 Premier League appearances to his name.

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