Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger says he felt like ‘an animal’ and ‘a liar’

Antonio Rudiger says he was made to feel like ‘an animal’ and ‘a liar’ after an investigation into alleged racist abuse against him by Tottenham fans was closed.

The Chelsea defender insists he will not ‘shut my mouth’ about racism despite both the police and Spurs finding no evidence to support his claim that he was targeted by home fans during their game in December.

‘I ask myself, “How is it possible that nobody of the 60,000 people in this stadium realised anything about it?”’ Rudiger told German newspaper Der Spiegel.

Antonio Rudiger felt like ‘an animal’ and ‘a liar’ after investigations into alleged racial abuse aimed at him were closed

Rudiger made a monkey gesture to make clear abuse was aimed at him back in December

Met Police and Spurs conducted separate investigations but they were both shut down

‘So, I stand there accused as a liar. I have the feeling that I’m expected to shut my mouth. But I have a message: I won’t do that.

‘I felt as if I wasn’t a human being, but an animal. A monkey. I think if you haven’t lived such situations you can’t imagine how I felt. Against Tottenham, I felt incredibly lonely.’

Rudiger also revealed that Spurs captain Harry Kane apologised to him after the game: ‘He wanted to do it as a sign that his club doesn’t think like that. That was good for me.’