Toni Rudiger has opened up about the racist abuse he received on social media after the sacking of club legend Frank Lampard. Speaking on a post on Chelsea’s official website, the German centre back had a lot to say on the matter and he as brutally honest on the topic.
After Frank Lampard was sacked as Chelsea boss, reports came out from media sources that Toni had caused problems inside the Chelsea squad as he wanted Frank gone. The club has completely condemned these reports and fully supports their defender on the matter.
Fans were furious at the thought of Rudiger wanting Frank out of the club and they resorted to horrific racist abuse on social media.
Speaking about Lampard’s departure, Toni said:
‘My conscience is clear. I know who I am and I know I did not do all that nonsense that came out and for me in my head, I am very free. I am open for every new coach, as I was open also for Mr Lampard.
When asked about the abuse he received, Rudiger believes his confidence in himself is key to not letting it affect him emotionally.
‘I cannot control people’s emotions but people should be human beings. Me, I didn’t post anything but the racial abuse was immense. This makes me stronger because I know who I am, I can look in the mirror and I can smile. I know I didn’t do anything so for me this is forgotten.
‘For me in life it is very important I can look in the mirror, I see myself, I know who I am. Of course it hurts but in this case I just block it out because I know I didn’t do anything.’
He was then asked what he believed Social Media companies should do about racist abuse online as it becomes a more horrible and common occurrence in football.
‘To be very honest I don’t know about all these social media things but I think the more people who make accounts, they make money off it. So me personally, I think they don’t really care because as you know, this money has power so the rest doesn’t matter, so it is hard to tell if people will make a change on that.
Toni then revealed that he feels sorry for people that are affected by the abuse and that he feels people are just ‘stupid’ which I’m afraid he’s right about.
‘I feel sorry for that but I feel more sorry for people who are not strong enough so it really affects them. Of course it affects me in a way too but it is just in a way that makes me think that people are not normal, people I am sorry to say are just stupid.’