Chelsea's Rudiger wants swift action against alleged racist abusers
LONDON (Reuters) – Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has urged Tottenham Hotspur to find and punish the individuals who allegedly directed racist abuse at him during Sunday’s Premier League match.
The German was involved in an incident in which Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was red-carded in the 62nd minute and indicated shortly afterwards that he had been the victim of a monkey gesture from the home section of the crowd.
Spurs have so far been unable to identify any home supporter making racist gestures but a Chelsea fan was arrested for allegedly racially abusing Son and was ejected from the ground.
Sky Sports reported on Monday that the Metropolitan Police had confirmed that the supporter was arrested after allegedly committing a racially aggravated public order offence.
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) called for a government inquiry into racism in the English game following the match between the London rivals, which Chelsea won 2-0.
“I really hope that the offenders will be found and punished soon, and in such a modern football ground like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with dozens of TV and security cameras, it must be possible to find and punish them,” Rudiger wrote on Twitter.
“If not, then there must have been witnesses in the stadium who saw and heard the incident. It’s just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?”
Tottenham are reviewing CCTV footage and vowed to take the "strongest possible action" if any supporter is identified as having made racist gestures but said in a statement here their investigations so far have been inconclusive.
“We are able to track every fan via the cameras and have spent many hours reviewing CCTV footage,” the club said. “We have engaged lip readers to study the footage and contacted Chelsea for further information from their players.
“We have also taken statements from other parties present at the time. The police will be reviewing our evidence alongside us. Please be assured we shall be exhaustively investigating this matter.
“Any fan found to be guilty will receive a lifetime ban. At this time, however, we should point out that our findings are inconclusive and would ask that comment is reserved until the facts are established.”