Tottenham Hotspurs promise 'strong action' after alleged racist incident

Tottenham Hotspurs have issued a statement promising strict action against racism and will be working with the authorities to ensure that maximum punishment is served to those who are caught. An alleged racist incident occurred in the second half of the Sunday's clash between Tottenham Hotspurs and Chelsea. 

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An investigation into the incident

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger pointed out to the referee in the second half that he had heard 'monkey chants'. The referee paused the match and informed both the managers as per protocol, and an announcement, "Ladies and gentleman, this is a security announcement Racism is interfering with the game,” took place over the stadium speakers. The announcement was repeated twice and the match then continued.

Tottenham Hotspurs' statement read, "We are now conducting a thorough investigation which will include liaising with Chelsea and their players for their observations. Any form of racism is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our stadium. We take any such allegations extremely seriously and shall take the strongest possible action against any individual found to be behaving in such a way, including stadium bans."

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Chelsea Head coach Frank Lampard, in his post-match press conference, said that he had spoken to his defender in detail, but highlighted that he and the club will stand by the team members. The Players Football Association (PFA) called for a government level inquiry in the incident and said that the issues is not only related to players of a certain color but for the entire sport. After highlighting how the racism spoils the game, the statement read, "We believe that the time has come for all governing bodies to unite collectively to end this abuse. The PFA calls for a government enquiry into racism and the rise in hate crime within football and immediate and urgent action from an All Party Group at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to address this urgent issue. All football stakeholders must work in partnership with police and clubs to drive this issue and accelerate solutions. As always, the PFA extends our full support to Antonio Rüdiger and any player who has suffered racist abuse. We will not allow this to continue. Now more than ever we must unite and stand strong and together to confront, challenge and eradicate racist abuse in our stadiums and in our country."

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