Lampard’s vow to back any walk off over racism

FRANK Lampard has promised to back his Chelsea players if they ever ask to walk off the pitch amid any future racist abuse.

Antonio Rudiger (right) claimed he was subjected to racist chanting during Chelsea’s 2-0 Premier League derby win at Tottenham.

Referee Anthony Taylor halted play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while announcements reminded fans there is “no place for racism in the game”.

And after the match, the German asked: “When will this nonsense stop?”

In a series of tweets, he said: “I really hope the offenders will be found and punished soon, and in such a modern football ground like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with dozens of TV and security cameras, it must be possible to find and subsequently punish them.

“If not, then there must have been witnesses in the stadium who saw and heard the incident. It’s just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?”

Chelsea boss Lampard lamented the situation, saying he would support his players walking off if subjected to a future racism storm.

“In terms of walking off the pitch, I think that has to feel right i n the moment,” said Lampard.

“And until that moment comes I don’t want to guess what I would do.

“It would depend what the players were feeling and saying.

“But I would be 100% behind them if they wanted to walk off, and I’m sure it would be a group decision. But we’re not there yet, so it’s hypothetical to a degree.

“All I know is Toni Rudiger said he heard racist chanting or comments, and I haven’t had chance for an individual conversation with him.

“Of course I’ll support Toni as we would support any of our players, or in fact any opposition players. Wherever this happens it needs to be dealt with.

“If it happened and it’s fact, then punishment is needed and it needs to be strong.”

Willian’s brace handed Chelsea a stunning 2-0 win at Spurs, who had Son Heung-min sent off for kicking out at Rudiger.

After defender Rudiger’s complaints of alleged racist abuse in the second half in north London, Tottenham pledging to complete a full investigation.

“We are now conducting a thorough investigation which will i nclude liaising with Chelsea and their players for their observations,” read a Tottenham statement.

“Any f orm of racism is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our stadium. We take any such allegations extremely seriously and shall take the strongest possible action against any individual found to be behaving in such a way, i ncluding stadium bans.”