Chelsea player Antonio Rudiger has reacted after the FA have come back and said that they couldn’t charge anyone in the game with Tottenham as there was no evidence to suggest that Antonio Rudiger was racially abused when the clubs played each other at Tottenham’s new ground a few weeks ago.
Rudiger had said that he had heard monkey chants aimed at him and a full investigation was then launched. In other incidents within the grounds there were 6 arrests but none were directly linked to Rudiger’s claim.
Tottenham have said that they have video equipment which can follow every fans face and even lip reading techniques and there has simply been no evidence to suggest that Rudiger suffered racist abuse. Of course this doesn’t mean that he didn’t.
It’s been a very difficult season in the Premier League for racist chanting and abuse and it does look like it is on the rise sadly once more. Although clubs zero tolerance policy of handing out life time bans for fans, is a fantastic measure and really is the way to go, one would hope that other leagues would follow suit.
Rudiger was understandably feeling down at the FA’s findings and he had this to say. “I’ll always raise my voice but in relation to this, I’m alone. Racism has won. The offenders can always come back to the stadium, which shows these people have won. It’s a disaster.”
Rudiger added: ”I became a father last Thursday and you start thinking society hasn’t come far enough in fighting racism, so my kids will probably suffer as well. If nothing changes, if kids don’t get good education and parenting, we’ll lose.”
Chelsea football club added their thoughts to the situation also via a club statement. ‘As Tottenham’s statement makes clear, a lack of evidence does not mean an incident did not take place. It is vitally important we continue to encourage all players, whatever shirt they wear, to report racist abuse without fear of doubt or reprisal.’
This is an incredibly controversial moment within the league because it is very probable that Rudiger heard something, and yet with all of the technology that the clubs have at their disposal they were not able to find the evidence to get the section of fans.
Rudiger though shouldn’t feel too down about what has happened. If it has, then it is disgusting and no one can make any excuses about that. But he is fortunate to play in a league that does take racism seriously and for that the Premier League despite its faults is heading in the right direction.
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