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Chelsea complains to M'sia about Benayoun abuse

LONDON - CHELSEA has formally complained to Malaysian football officials after Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun was booed by spectators during a pre-season friendly in the Muslim-majority nation.

In last Thursday's match against a Malaysian XI, Benayoun became the first Israeli in recent memory to play in the country, which is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Chelsea says it was 'initially unclear as to the nature of the abuse Yossi received'.

But now the Premier League club states on its website that 'we believe Yossi was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse by a number of supporters at the game'.

And the Blues say that 'it has become apparent that a formal complaint was necessary'. -- AP

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