Antonio Rudiger suffered 'immense' racial abuse in wake of Frank Lampard sacking
By Max Cooper
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has revealed that he suffered 'immense' racial abuse in the aftermath of Frank Lampard's sacking, but believes social media companies will not make any changes to tackle this issue.
The 27-year-old has been blamed by some sections of the Blues fanbase for their former coach's departure, but he dismissed these rumours as nonsense.
However, Rudiger received a barrage of racial abuse after Lampard was dismissed, both directly and indirectly on Twitter and Instagram. Chelsea are investigating the matter, and will hand any evidence over to the police.
And, speaking to the club's website, the German defender has since suggested that social media companies 'don't really care' about the ease in which the public can hurl derogatory insults at people in the spotlight.
"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," Rudiger said.
"So me personally, I think they don't really care because as you know money has power so the rest doesn't matter so it's hard to tell if people will make a change on that."
Rudiger described the level of racism he experienced as 'immense', and claimed that his conscience is clear over the sacking of Lampard, despite the suggestions that his attitude led to the Chelsea legend's demise.
"My conscience is clear. I know I did not do all that nonsense. I am open for every new coach as I was open also for Mr Lampard.
"I cannot control people's emotions but people should be human beings. I didn't post anything but the racial abuse was immense. This makes me stronger because I know who I am and I can look in the mirror and smile.
"Of course if hurts, but in this case I just block it out because I know I didn't do anything."
The German international has started all five of Chelsea's most recent fixtures, and he has impressed under new coach Thomas Tuchel.