A football fan has been handed a three-year stadium ban after directing racist abuse at the Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

Stephen Fitzwater was in the Chelsea stand watching the team play Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April when he was heard making a racially offensive comment towards the player.

Other supporters took offence and reported him to a steward and the 55-year-old from Hartland Road in Isleworth, west London, was arrested by Scotland Yard's football intelligence unit.

He admitted racially aggravated abuse at Hendon magistrates court in north-west London on Monday and was given a three-year football banning order preventing him from attending any regulated football match in the UK or abroad, Scotland Yard said.

A Chelsea spokesman said: "Chelsea Football Club and the overwhelming majority of our fans abhor all forms of discrimination and believe they have no place in our club or our communities.

"We will be taking the strongest possible action against this individual, who has received a football banning order along with a lifetime ban from Chelsea Football Club.

"We would like to thank Chelsea fans for reporting this incident and others which occurred during the semi-final, as a result of which a number of persons have been banned for using racial and abusive language."