No evidence of racism by Tottenham over alleged abuse on Chelsea's Rudiger

Following a thorough investigation into the reported racial abuse meted against Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger during December 22nd's London derby, Tottenham have released a statement that they found no evidence to support allegations of racism from Spurs fans towards the defender.

German defender Rudiger reported that he heard monkey noises and as a result, the play was stopped during the game.

Chelsea went on to secure a 2-0 win over their former manager, Jose Mourinho.

A Spurs statement said the club and the Metropolitan Police had "now exhausted all avenues of investigation".

Spurs added that the police had closed the crime report on the matter.

The Tottenham statement added: "We fully support Antonio Rudiger with the action that he took - however there is no evidence to corroborate or contradict the allegation and as such neither ourselves nor the police are in a position to take any further action."

A total of six arrests were made following the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as part of the Metropolitan Police operation at the fixture, but none were linked to the incident involving Rudiger.

One Chelsea fan was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence against Spurs forward Son Heung-min, who was sent off in the match after a collision with Rudiger.

Spurs said they are able to "track every fan" using cameras at their new 62,062 stadium and that any supporter found to be guilty of racism would "receive a lifetime ban".

The club said they worked with professional lip readers in their investigations and that all reports had also been reviewed by the police.

Their statement continued: "We are fiercely proud of our anti-racism work and our zero tolerance of any form of discrimination. This is one reason why we have attributed so much time and resource to investigating this matter.

"Had we identified anyone guilty of this we were intent on issuing them with a lifetime ban from our stadium as they would have no place among our proud, diverse fan base.

"If any new information comes to light, this will be fully investigated."