A black Premier League footballer who reported hearing monkey chants during a match has urged officials to find and punish the offenders as soon as possible.
Antonio Rudiger reported being the subject of monkey chants during the second half of his Chelsea side’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
The Professional Footballers’ Association called for a government inquiry into racism within football after the allegations of abuse at the game in North London.
The chants, which have caused widespread outrage, were heard shortly after Tottenham player Son Heung-min had been sent off for kicking out at Rudiger.
It comes amid a number of other shameful incidents to have affected football during the year which have prompted calls for politicians to do more to prevent racism.
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger reported being the subject of monkey chanting in the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur in North London yesterday
Rudiger made a monkey gesture as he gave an indication of the abuse he said he received
The referee halted play and announcements were made at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to say ‘racist behaviour among spectators is interfering with the game’.
Rudiger, 26, who is German, tweeted last night: ‘It is really sad to see racism again at a football match, but I think it’s very important to talk about it in public.
‘If not, it will be forgotten again in a couple of days (as always). I don’t want to involve Tottenham as an entire club into this situation as I know that just a couple of idiots were the offenders.
‘I got a lot of supportive messages on social media from Spurs fans as well in the last hours – thank you a lot for this.
‘I really hope that the offenders will be found and punished soon, and in such a modern football ground like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with dozens of TV and security cameras, it must be possible to find and subsequently punish them.
Rudiger, 26, tweeted last night that it was ‘really sad to see racism again at a football match’
‘If not, then there must have been witnesses in the stadium who saw and heard the incident. It’s just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?’
Sport Minister Nigel Adams is set to meet with Tottenham directors today to discuss the incident.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports, called on the PFA to do more in the fight against racism.
He said: ‘We have a racism problem in the Premier League in England. And the Premier League have to step up, they hide behind the FA on this issue.
‘Maybe we have to empower the players to walk off the pitch and stop the entertainment while it is happening. That is the only way I can see it happening.
Gary Neville suggested that much more needs to be done in order to tackle racism in games
Ex-Chelsea defender Ashley Cole said that ‘people need educating’ over the issue of racism
‘I did not walk off the pitch when Ashley (Cole) was abused 15 years ago, and you might argue that now it’s okay for me to sit here in my ivory tower of a commentary box and suggest that players should walk off the pitch.
‘Those that were quick to condemn Stormzy’s comments should take note’, says Gary Lineker
Grime star Stormzy
Gary Lineker pointed out that the incident in the Premier League match occurred on the same day that Stormzy was criticised for saying Britain was ‘100 per cent’ still a racist country.
The Match of the Day host said: ‘Seems that there may well have been another racist episode. Those that were quick to condemn Stormzy’s comments should take note.’
ITV apologised to the grime star yesterday after he told them ‘you can suck my d***’ amid accusations they had been ‘spinning his words’ over an interview in which he said the UK was a racist country.
In an interview with an Italian newspaper the Heavy Is The Head rapper was asked if the UK was a racist country, and said: ‘Definitely, 100%. It’s like, ‘oh no, we’re not racist’, but there’s a lot of racism in the country.’
ITV headlined their piece on the interview: ‘Rapper Stormzy says UK is ‘100 per cent’ racist’ and received a furious four-letter response from the Glastonbury headliner.
Stormzy retweeted the story, writing simply: ‘ITV you lot can suck my d*** for this.’
He then followed up with a tweet to say: ‘All you publications and media outlets that are intentionally spinning my words for some click bait can suck my d*** and please don’t try beg it in the future.’
‘Ultimately I would be ashamed of myself for not doing (it) 15 years ago as I would be absolutely proud of players for doing it now to empower them to think, do something about it and take it into your own hands.’
He continued: ‘The PFA need to act because it’s ultimately their job to protect players in their own country and they should protect players if the football associations don’t do it.’
Neville played in the England team with Cole – who, along with Shaun Wright-Phillips, was subjected to racist abuse during a 2004 friendly against Spain in Madrid.
Cole, also speaking on Sky Sports, feels the current anti-discrimination campaigns do not go far enough.
‘You have a T-shirt in your place (in the dressing room). They are like, ‘Put that on for the warm-up, then you can take it off’,’ the 39-year-old said. ‘People don’t really care.’
He added: ‘Why do they wait until something happens in the game to make the announcements? I don’t think it is enough – and is it going to stop?’It is kind of my fault as well that when I was abused I did not come out, but I just felt I didn’t have enough support.
‘Raheem (Sterling) has changed that, he has the people on his side, whereas I did not feel I had that.’
Neville also took aim at political leaders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn for not doing enough to stamp out racism in the UK.
‘I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago that we have just had a General Election in this country where the leaders of both main parties are accused constantly over the past month of fuelling racism and accepting racism in their parties,’ Neville said.
‘If it is accepted in the highest office in the country then we aren’t talking at a micro level, we are talking at an enormous level.
‘It is the same here today, which you could say is down to one individual person but it is a far bigger problem than that and something needs to happen quickly.
‘Ultimately we need to empower the players to walk off the pitch and stop the entertainment while it is happening.’
Referee Anthony Taylor (centre) speaks to Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger during yesterday’s game
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is pictured during the match against Chelsea yesterday
Mr Johnson’s Tories have been dogged by allegations of Islamophobia in recent years, and Labour has struggled to purge its membership of those accused of being anti-Semitic.
But Sky Sports host David Jones then intervened with a disclaimer: ‘I am compelled to say that those are the opinions of Gary Neville and not Sky Sports. That is my duty.’
When a visibly annoyed Neville asked whether or not he agreed, Jones responded: ‘Whether I do or I don’t is irrelevant. I’m here to try and hold a balanced debate.’
After the programme, Jones tweeted an apology.
‘I’m so sorry to have spoiled what was such an important discussion on racism tonight. I had to intervene when Gary suggested the two main political parties were to blame – I didn’t make that clear enough. For that I apologise unreservedly,’ Jones said.
‘I would never purposefully shut down a discussion on racism. I’ve worked for Sky for over 20 years and know they share my view that racism of any kind should not be tolerated. That is not a debate. And that’s why I’m so very disappointed and sorry tonight.’
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and devout Liverpool fan, echoed Neville’s calls for players to abandon matches in response to racism.
He tweeted: ‘I fully agree with @GNev2. The Premier League and FA have to start taking more effective action against home grown racism at matches in this country.
‘We thought we had largely eradicated this scourge but there have been too many new incidences taking place in recent games.’
Following scenes of racist chanting when England played Bulgaria in a World Cup qualifier overseas, Prime Minister branded the culprits ‘vile’ and said such behaviour had ‘no place in football or anywhere else’.
Today, Kick It Out’s George Starkey-Midha told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It’s imperative on everyone involved in football, on the Government, on anyone in any kind of position of authority to really begin to take this far more seriously and look at how we can begin to make inroads, because clearly you’ve now got a situation where every single week there seems to be another incident and it’s a serious, serious problem.’
Neville suggested that England should have walked off the pitch when Cole (pictured, middle) and other England players were racially abused during a game against Spain in 2004
Mr Starkey-Midha said there needs to be ‘far more robust’ reporting procedures and ‘far more comprehensive sanctions’, including within football, to respond to racism.
Sky host apologises for ‘spoiling’ discussion
David Jones on Sky Sports last night
Sky Sports host David Jones has apologised for ‘spoiling’ the discussion of an alleged racist incident that occurred during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.
The Premier League fixture was marred by accusations from Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger that he was the subject of racial abuse from a Spurs fan during the second half of the match.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the contest, Gary Neville took aim at political leaders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn for not doing enough to stamp out racism in the UK.
‘I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago that we have just had a General Election in this country where the leaders of both main parties are accused constantly over the past month of fuelling racism and accepting racism in their parties,’ Neville said.
‘If it is accepted in the highest office in the country then we aren’t talking at a micro level, we are talking at an enormous level.
‘It is the same here today, which you could say is down to one individual person but it is a far bigger problem than that and something needs to happen quickly.
‘Ultimately we need to empower the players to walk off the pitch and stop the entertainment while it is happening.’
Jones then intervened with a disclaimer: ‘I am compelled to say that those are the opinions of Gary Neville and not Sky Sports. That is my duty.’
When a visibly annoyed Neville asked whether or not he agreed, Jones responded: ‘Whether I do or I don’t is irrelevant. I’m here to try and hold a balanced debate.’
After the programme, Jones tweeted an apology.
‘I’m so sorry to have spoiled what was such an important discussion on racism tonight. I had to intervene when Gary suggested the two main political parties were to blame – I didn’t make that clear enough. For that I apologise unreservedly,’ Jones said.
‘I would never purposefully shut down a discussion on racism. I’ve worked for Sky for over 20 years and know they share my view that racism of any kind should not be tolerated. That is not a debate. And that’s why I’m so very disappointed and sorry tonight.’
Asked if the Professional Footballers Association was accurate when warning of the ‘blatant racism that is currently rife in the UK’, Mr Starkey-Midha replied: ‘Yes, absolutely.
‘I think it’s undeniable that racism is still a very serious problem in this country.
‘I think people like to look abroad to Italy, Russia and Bulgaria when incidents happen there and I think we’re right to criticise when we see it, but there are serious levels of racism in this country still too.
‘I think unless we wake up to that fact, we won’t tackle it properly.’
Iffy Onuora, the PFA’s equalities coach, told BBC Breakfast: ‘First of all, football is only a reflection of society, so we are not saying there is an isolated problem in football.
‘Football is the national game, and we can use football as a vehicle to look beyond football, because what is happening in football is just a manifestation of society, so we can start addressing some of those core issues – what’s driving it?
‘That’s the starting point, otherwise we will just keep coming back to this same old thing.’
Onuora continued: ‘This is about how we see ourselves as a country. There are people looking at us now. We used to be famous for tolerance, inclusiveness, all those things. We are in danger of losing that.
‘Our values were once about inclusiveness and positivity, and we are in danger of losing this, and for all decent-minded people that should be something to be feared.
‘We spoke about 2012, what a message we sent out with the (London) Olympics – that inclusiveness, that tolerance – and we all thought we were in a really good place. That seems a relic now, 2012. It was only eight years ago.
‘We fast forward to where we are now, it seems such a long time ago. I think most people in this country still want the message that we sent out then, not the messages we are sending out now.
‘All it needs is people in power, in leadership, to take control of this and to provide the leadership and support the players.
‘We have got to use this as a starting point. There is a new government now, there is an opportunity for those to take the lead and really set the tone in a positive way.’
Among a series of tweets following the match, the PFA posted: ‘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.
‘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.’
Rudiger tweeted after the game, saying: ‘No to racism. Please get some basic education’
Tottenham swiftly vowed to investigate the matter and take the strongest possible action against any guilty parties, with Chelsea quick to welcome their London rivals’ stance.
Racist abuse reported at Millwall v Barnley
Millwall have vowed to co-operate fully with an investigation into alleged racial abuse following their defeat to Barnsley at the New Den on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police are looking into claims of an incident in a section for home supporters in the immediate aftermath of Barnsley’s 2-1 win.
Millwall’s New Den stadium (file image)
Millwall said in a statement: ‘Millwall Football Club and its security team are working with The Metropolitan Police and Barnsley Football Club to identify a supporter accused of racially abusing a visiting player in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s game between the two sides at The Den.
‘The matter will be fully investigated by the police and the club will co-operate fully.’
Barnsley have also indicated their awareness of the alleged incident and have said they will work together with Millwall to identify the culprit.
A Barnsley statement read: ‘Barnsley Football Club and Millwall Football Club are working together, along with The Metropolitan Police to identify a supporter who is accused of racial abuse.
‘Millwall Football Club have fully cooperated with Barnsley Football Club on this matter and dealt with the allegation in a thorough manner.
‘We have no doubt as a club, that the staff at The Den are treating this incident with the severity that is required.’
Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out said in a statement yesterday evening: ‘We are aware of the alleged racist incidents at today’s game between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
‘We applaud the action of referee Anthony Taylor in following step one of the protocol and the ensuing steps taken by Tottenham Hotspur in repeating the stadium announcements.
‘We have offered our support to both of the clubs and also to Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger.’
Speaking on Sky Sports News, KIO’s head of development Troy Townsend said: ‘It has always been there, but now incidents are getting reported more so it was good to see what happened today highlighted in the commentary so everyone knew what was going on.
‘But unfortunately this minority, which continues to find its way into our grounds, are continuing to act in this disgraceful matter. It is something the game has to look at now as to what the next steps are.
‘The Premier League, the FA and all the governing bodies have to take a long, hard look and say what do we do because what we are doing is not enough.’
Two weeks ago a man was identified and arrested for an alleged racist gesture caught on TV cameras during the Manchester derby between City and United, while an Italy’s Serie A apologised last week after an anti-racism campaign featuring posters with images of monkeys was widely condemned.
UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin earlier this month pledged European football’s governing body was working to tackle the rising problem after a spate of incidents across the continent including the hurling of racist abuse at England players during a match in Bulgaria.
But Mr Ceferin accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of fuelling the problem.
‘When a politician that calls women with burqas post boxes or mailboxes then says publicly that he condemns you UEFA (for not tackling racism) – do you reply to that? Do you believe it’s honest? Come on,’ said Mr Ceferin.
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