The
Metropolitan Police has ended its investigation into the alleged racist
abuse of Antonio Rudiger during Chelsea's game at Tottenham on December 22.
Rudiger was seen indicating he had faced racist abuse around the 63rd minute
of the game which led to the Premier League's anti-discrimination protocol
being used for the first time, with three announcements made on the PA
system warning supporters against racist chanting.
But after conducting an investigation into the matter - which occurred
shortly after Heung-Min Son had received a straight red card following an
incident with Rudiger - both the police and Spurs have found no evidence to
support the allegation of racial abuse.
"The Club and the Metropolitan Police have now exhausted all avenues of
investigation following the reported incident at our home fixture against
Chelsea on 22 December," read a statement from Tottenham.
"We carried out extensive reviews of CCTV images and footage, working with
professional lip readers. All materials and reports have now also been
reviewed by the police who have carried out their own investigation.
"The police have notified us today that, having reviewed and investigated,
they have closed the crime report as they can find no evidence to support
the allegation of racial abuse.
Antonio Rudiger speaks out after suffering alleged racist abuse
"We fully support Antonio Rudiger with the action that he took - however
there is no evidence to corroborate or contradict the allegation and as such
neither ourselves nor the police are in a position to take any further
action.
"We are fiercely proud of our anti-racism work and our zero tolerance of any
form of discrimination. This is one reason why we have attributed so much
time and resource to investigating this matter.
"Had we identified anyone guilty of this we were intent on issuing them with
a lifetime ban from our stadium as they would have no place among our proud,
diverse fan base
"If any new information comes to light, this will be fully investigated.
A subsequent statement from the Metropolitan Police read: "An allegation of
racial abuse was reported to police following the Tottenham vs Chelsea match
held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, 22 December.
"The allegation stated that the abuse was directed from somewhere within the
crowd and was aimed at a Chelsea player.
"The allegation was fully investigated by the police officers working with
both clubs. This included extensive scrutiny of the CCTV footage from the
stadium.
"Without any witnesses or further information, no evidence was found and the
case was closed.
"If any new evidence comes to light, this will be fully investigated.
"If anyone has any information that may assist, please contact officers via
101 or tweet @MetCC.
The match was won 2-0 by Chelsea, with Willian scoring both goals in the
first half.
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