Rudiger investigation closed with 'no evidence to support' racial abuse allegation

Antonio Rudiger said he was racially abused during Chelsea's win at Tottenham, but the police found no evidence to support the allegation.

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger had allegedly been subject to racist chants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur and the Metropolitan Police have closed their respective investigations into the alleged racist abuse of Antonio Rudiger, the club announced on Monday.

Chelsea defender Rudiger told Cesar Azpilicueta he was subjected to racist chants during the 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 22.

The Germany international was allegedly targeted shortly after Spurs' Son Heung-min was sent off for kicking out at his opponent.

Referee Anthony Taylor called for an announcement to be made over the stadium's public address system to warn fans against making abusive chants.

The findings of Tottenham's initial probe were "inconclusive" and having passed all materials gathered to the authorities, the police found no evidence to support the allegation of racial abuse.

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A Spurs statement read: "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.

"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.

"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."