Antonio Rüdiger responds to racists: “When will this nonsense stop?”
A racist incident overshadowed Chelsea’s victory in the London derby against Tottenham (0-2) yesterday. Antonio Rüdiger was jerked into jungle sounds, after which the stadium announcer asked supporters to behave. The Chelsea defender responded to the incident last night.
“It is really sad to see racism again at a football match, but I think it’s very important to talk about it in public. If not, it will be forgotten again in a couple of days (as always),” Rüdiger started his argument on Twitter.
Antonio Rüdiger doesn’t want to involve Tottenham Hotspur as an entire club in this situation, because he knows that only a “few idiots were the perpetrators”. He also received a lot of supportive messages on social media from Spurs fans in recent hours, for which he wants to thank them very much.
The Chelsea defender really hopes that the perpetrators will be found and punished quickly. In such a modern stadium as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with dozens of TV and security cameras, Antonio Rüdiger believes that it must be possible to find them. If not, there must have been witnesses in the stadium who have seen and heard the incident.
He emphasized that: “It’s just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?”
The English players’ union PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) also made a statement. “Following the events at today’s Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea game, we are disgusted and dismayed that once again, a Premier League fixture has been tainted by abuse from the stands towards players.”
“Racism does not belong in football or society. It is very disappointing that some fans continue to show racist gestures and songs from the stands. It has become clear that players are on the receiving end of the clearly present racism prevailing in Britain, but these players are not alone. The PFA stands next to every player who is confronted with discrimination. We will continue to fight on their behalf to permanently combat this issue,” the PFA said.
“Football is a large and important part of British society. With the huge global audience that English football attracts, we have a responsibility to lead the way with a zero-tolerance policy. We believe the time has come for all governing bodies to unite to stop this abuse from the stands. The PFA calls for a government investigation into racism in football and encourages the establishment of an All-Party Group at the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport. More than ever, we must unite and stand strong to confront, tackle and eradicate racism in our stadiums and our country together”.
So England also has a racism problem. A year ago, Chelsea banned a fan for life because of possible racism to Raheem Sterling. A Tottenham supporter swung a banana peel to Aubameyang in the derby with Arsenal. Two weeks ago, the television cameras picked out a Man City fan who made an alleged monkey gesture to Fred (Man United).
