Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has claimed that “racism has won” after he was booed durng Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The German international was jeered by a small section of the away crowd on his first appearance against us since he made accusations of being the subject of racist abuse from Spurs fans in December’s reverse fixture.
“Racism has won,” he told Sky Sports Germany. “The offenders can always come back to the stadium, which shows that these people have won.
“It doesn’t have to be me, it can be anyone else. They never get punished and in the end, I am the scapegoat. I won’t give up, I’ll never stop raising my voice. I’ll always raise my voice, but in relation to this, I am alone.
“It’s a disaster. 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 young kids don’t get good education and parenting, we will lose. We have to be this honest.”
There is no reason that Rudiger should have been targetted yesterday, at least not any more than any other Chelsea player, but let’s remember that an investigation took place and police could not prove his complaints.
So racism hasn’t won; nobody has won from this. Rudiger feels wronged or worse, victimized. Spurs and their fans have had our reputations smeered.
But yesterday’s boos were not about racism. They were about tribalism, which can be equally ugly but is inevitable at a high-stakes London derby.
I’m happy for Rudiger to keep fighting the good fight, in-fact I would encourage him to do it. But don’t drag us through the mud in the process.
