Home » Opinion: This Rudiger Business Will Not End Well For Anyone

Opinion: This Rudiger Business Will Not End Well For Anyone

By The Boy -

The allegation has been made by Chelsea footballer Antonio Rudiger that he was subjected to racist abuse at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium yesterday. Specifically that Spurs fan/s in the crowd near to the player were making monkey noises towards the Blues’ Captain.

This allegation was deduced from watching video footage of the player mimicking an offensive gesture and pointing to his own ears. Which can be seen in the video below.

The stadium itself is packed with not just in excess of 60,000 fans (many of whom are prone these days to video anything that moves), but also police spotters, stewards, state of the art CCTV and of course numerous TV cameras from the world’s broadcasters.

It’s therefore difficult to believe that some evidence, conclusive or otherwise will fail to surface. If it that were not to happen, then one is left with two distinctly unpalatable outcomes.

One, that the player misheard/misinterpreted what was being screamed at him, or it is not impossible that Rudiger made the whole thing up. I’m not suggesting he did – indeed – it’s vitally important that all allegations are taken extremely seriously, no matter what the circumstances.

However, an allegation is not proof, it is important not to lose sight of what an allegation is; namely a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof.

If the allegation were a case of misunderstanding, then one needs to ask Rudiger if he heard it once, twice or more, and if anything else was also said. Any clues to the exact words used could prove invaluable to lip readers etc.

So what about the repeated tannoy announcements? The Evening Standard provide us with a solid summary of the deployment of the tannoy system.

Racism needs to be stamped out. That’s not up for debate. And if anyone is found to be proven guilty then the full weight of the law should be thrown at them. It’s depressing that we’re still discussing racism in football in 2019.

If no evidence from a single other source in this packed and noisy stadium can be found, then it’s a bad day for those fighting racism, because one might have got away.

That’s one conclusion. Alternatively, we may have just learned that football needs a more robust system in place, opposed to relying upon one man’s word.

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Spurs est1882
Spurs est1882
4 years ago
Reply to  Spurs est1882

Fyi- echo the sentiments of the blog. I don’t deny it happened and perpetrators need to be giving something more stern than a lifetime ban that is very easily circumvented.

Spurs est1882
Spurs est1882
4 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

It’s a tactic that I fear will be used in some quarters to end games, wouldn’t be too surprised to see a betting scandal emerge.

Spurs est1882
Spurs est1882
4 years ago

Whether it happened or simply misheard two things are true. 1) football has no clue or desire to solve the issue of racism. 2) Jose has been gifted a way to dodge why we were forced to watch arguably the worst performance of 2019 (if not recent memory) after claiming we don’t need players he just needed time… He had a week and we look worse, not just poor but actually worse.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
4 years ago

With the current rules in place, it now becomes easy to disrupt a match using racist behaviour, whether real or alleged. The ref is obliged to stop the game and investigate the complaint. It could almost become tactical, like the professional foul.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
4 years ago

Oh the irony. One of the vilest, racist clubs n the Prem, with a history of anti-semitic behaviour and documented racist behaviour in Europe, is taking the moral high ground on this situation. I agree that there is no place for racism in football and the perpetrator/s deserve lifetime bans and re-education. Perhaps Rudiger misheard what was said – was he being called a donkey instead? Sad, sad day for Spurs on several fronts.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
4 years ago

Who cares about their players and staff more than Haringey boroughs TOM LOIZOU. Legend. I’m seeing Tom and the boys later to get their take on it. My man simply took his team/friends off. Me rate him HIGHLY. He’d a done it if he was managing TOTTENHAM. that’s just Tom.

Eddie
Eddie
4 years ago

After the game Neville and Cole were saying the PFA should take a much firmer stance over this issue,having failed miserably up till now.Today they issued a statement back heeling the problem to the government.They are not supporting their members.

James McKevitt
James McKevitt
4 years ago

Club will deal with it firmly I believe. Hard to police 60,000 people though. Has any country successfully stopped this abuse of players, maybe we can learn from them.

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