In-game anti-racism pleas as Chelsea faces abuse at Spurs

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger reported being targeted with monkey noises during a London derby at Tottenham on Sunday, forcing the stadium announcer to issue three warnings in an unprecedented move at a Premier League game.

The latest high-profile incident of racism at an English stadium led to calls from the players’ union for a government inquiry to “accelerate solutions” along with the police and officials across soccer.

“We will not allow this to continue,” the Professional Footballers’ Association said in a statement. “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.”

The announcements at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were made at 10-minute intervals, starting around the 63rd minute of the game with Chelsea leading 2-0.

“Racist behavior among spectators is interfering with the game,” the announcer announced in a warning to the crowd of 61,104. “Please remember that racism has no place in football.”

The abuse reported by Rüdiger came after he was kicked in the chest by Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who was sent off as a result.

Rudiger, who is black, was seen putting his hands under his armpits – seemingly mimicking a monkey gesture – in the 63rd minute.

Rüdiger later tweeted hashtags which stated “No to racism” and “Please get some basic education.”

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta had been informed of the racism by Rüdiger. That led to referee Anthony Taylor ordering the stadium announcements, implementing a procedure initially formed by FIFA to deal with discrimination in games.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said he would support his players walking off the field in future.

“It would depend what the players were feeling and saying,” Lampard said. “I’m sure it would be a group decision. But we’re not there yet, so it’s hypothetical to a degree.”

Repeated announcements warning against racism in stadiums would typically indicate multiple incidents and require the players to be taken off. But Tottenham and the Premier League said there had been only one reported incident.

“I hate racism in society, I hate racism in football,” Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said. “I’m disappointed that things like that still can happen, but the referee stopped the game, he spoke with the players, spoke with the captains, spoke with the coaches.

“I was losing, I don’t want the game to be stopped, but immediately when I knew the reason why the game was stopped I obviously understood and accepted it.”

Tottenham said it had launched an investigation and would be liaising with Chelsea and its players.

“Any form of racism is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our stadium,” Tottenham said. “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.”

If the English Football Association followed sanctions used by UEFA and FIFA, part of Tottenham’s stadium could be ordered to be closed to fans as a punishment.

“Everyone is doing as much as they can to make a stop for it,” Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham said. “But there are going to be one or two people who will always remain the same.

“For us it is about staying together. As you could see, the Spurs players came to comfort Toni as well.”

The Manchester derby two weeks ago was also marred by a high-profile incident of racism when United players were targeted with abuse at City.

The England national team experienced a European Championship qualifier being stopped twice in Bulgaria in October when home fans made Nazi salutes and targeted monkey noises at the visiting black players

“Racist abuse in football is not just an issue for black and ethnic minority players, it is an issue for everyone who loves the game,” the English players’ union said. “We believe that the time has come for all governing bodies to unite collectively to end this abuse.” ___

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