Chelsea
defender Antonio Rudiger has revealed he suffered "immense" racist abuse on
social media following the sacking of Frank Lampard.
Reports claimed that Rudiger had encouraged the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge
to replace Lampard but the Germany international has dismissed those
suggestions as "nonsense".
Chelsea say they support Rudiger on this matter and are investigating his
allegations, and will pass on any relevant information to the police.
"I have been in the club into my fourth season and I have had four different
coaches, with (Thomas) Tuchel now, and it was never talked about when
(Maurizio) Sarri left the club or when (Antonio) Conte left the club that
players were involved or something like this," Rudiger told Chelsea's
website.
"My conscience is clear. I know who I am and I know I did not do all that
nonsense that came out and for me in my head, I am very free. I am open for
every new coach, as I was open also for Mr Lampard.
"I cannot control people's emotions but people should be human beings. Me, I
didn't post anything but the racial abuse was immense. This makes me
stronger because I know who I am, I can look in the mirror and I can smile.
I know I didn't do anything so for me this is forgotten.
"For me in life it is very important I can look in the mirror, I see myself,
I know who I am. Of course, it hurts but in this case I just block it out
because I know I didn't do anything."
Rudiger has also suggested social media companies are not doing enough to
close down abusive social media accounts and believes they "don't really
care" about tackling the issue.
"To be very honest I don't know about all these social media things but I
think people who make accounts, they make money off it," he added.
"So me personally, I think they don't really care because as you know, this
money has power so the rest doesn't matter, so it is hard to tell if people
will make a change on that."
Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe was subjected to racist abuse again
on social media following Saturday's draw with Everton.
Tuanzebe was targeted with racist comments on Instagram after Dominic
Calvert-Lewin scored a late equaliser for Everton in a 3-3 draw at Old
Trafford.
It is the second time in recent weeks that Tuanzebe has been subjected to
racist abuse online.
Tuanzebe and United team-mate Anthony Martial were also targeted last month
after the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.
A Facebook company spokesperson told Sky Sports News: "There is no place for
hate speech on Instagram and we have taken action to remove accounts and
comments following the abuse received by Axel Tuanzebe this weekend.
"We are always working on new ways to tackle racism on Instagram and will
have more to share soon."
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