The Chelsea defender was booed from the London derby against Tottenham after formerly reporting racism.
Antonio Rudiger has renewed vigour to speak out against racism after the birth of his first child and has slammed the soccer authorities for leaving black players to confront racism alone.
Chelsea defender Rudiger was booed by Tottenham fans at Stamford Bridge on Saturday following the Germany global alleged that he was abused during the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
Police were not able to find evidence to support or deny Rudiger’s claim and have closed their investigation into the incident, which could be a criminal offence in UK law.
Three arena announcements were made in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Rudiger was seen on camera asserting the monkey chants were made. More broadly, there has been a spike in incidents reported to the UK charity Kick It Out and lots of those have been captured on camera at Europe’s top leagues.
Rudiger was thrilled to see his team win 2-1 against Spurs but opened up about how he believes the authorities are failing to restrain the increase in hate crime.
“I am not trying to offend but you [white] people won’t ever know what goes through my mind in this moment, or other black players’ minds, I’m alone. I’m totally alone,” Rudiger said at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s fine if people are speaking up for me but at the end of the day, it just replays. Authority wise I am alone. I heard about it [being booed]. It’s sad. I don’t understand why they would. Perhaps it’s because I voiced about the racism.
“Should you boo me because of this then you’re poor men and women. I am sorry. This is a indication that we’ve got a very major issue. At the end of the day, I’m alone in this case since I’m the person who must swallow this.
“With the triumph it makes me feel like a bit like, yes OK, but it makes me feel as though it is going to always be like that. For me, in this case, racism won. I am very cautious with this. I am not in the investigations. I am not a police officer. I just always hope folks do their job correctly.
“But nothing happened and, to tell the truth, it wasn’t a surprise. For me, it wasn’t a surprise, since they always get away with it. Not necessarily, sometimes they get punished, but they get away with it.
“The support from my team was there. Also everything and players. For me this wasn’t enough. These people will need to be punished. They need educating. It is a lack of education, easy. All of us, even for example, all of us failed in this.
“Since people are really honest, we’ve got so many people coming to the scene and in that game when it occurred, Chelsea fans got detained and , since Chelsea fans reported that the other Chelsea fans who mistreated [Heung-min] Son.
“So on the other side, nothing happened. It’s the men and women who were around. And that is why I say if we do not stand up, racism won. I’ll always stand up. It’s not just about myself. It can be homophobic or something like that.
“It is about standing up for people. I believe this is normal. I am not hurting anyone. I am not killing anyone. I’ll always stand up for other men and women. I won’t leave anyone in this way.”
Because of the absence of evidence over the episode, Rudiger has confronted far-fetched claims from several Spurs fans for making up the incident in December.
Rudiger revealed he went onto have a chat with Harry Kane at doping control after the game and the Spurs captain apologised straight to him on behalf of his team.
Just last week, Porto striker Moussa Marega walked off the pitch in protest after being subjected to racist abuse away in Vitoria Guimaraes. The footage went viral and Rudiger believes it’s a fantastic example of how soccer fails to comprehend how it is able to control these rising tensions.
“There you see, he wishes to leave the pitch and his team-mates attempt to stop him,” Rudiger added. “And there it was apparent, everyone heard it. And his own team-mates held back him to stay on the pitch. He was alone. And he was reserved for going out since he had been racially abused.
“It is simple; we’re alone in this. We need to take care of it in our way. Walking off the pitch does not make sense if they don’t get punished. Does this make sense to walk off the pitch? I don’t think so.
“Consequently? This isn’t a consequence because the outcome possibly I’m again the bogeyman. What stage is it if I leave the pitch and no one gets punished?
“In the end, how folks write things, I will be the booed person . If there’s no punishment for these folks, racism won. That is the way I see it.”
Rudiger came into the match against Spurs having noticed his partner gave birth to his son Djamal Sahr and he explained adding a derby win to the arrival of his first child as the best week of his life.
“Definitely. 100 percent [the best week of my life]. And to win a derby, it’s even better. An excellent week. This week was a week with ups and downs. But more ups, especially for me because of the arrival of my son — the first arrival. It had been tough days for me but with this win I am quite content.
“I am quite tired right now. I’m happy. Now I am going into the hospital and ultimately, he comes home. It is very tough but with this game, I am very content. Firstborn child. I’ve never experienced this sort of emotion or what was happening in my mind.”
Now the 26-year-old is a dad, he’s eager to see his son grow up in a less toxic world and he’s renewed vigour to attempt and speak out against racism.
“Of course since if it occurs at football, it’s also happening outside and out my son will be growing up,” he reasoned. “I will attempt to do my very best. I’ll do my best to make sure my son isn’t stupid like other men and women. Except for this word, I don’t have any other words for this.”
