Police: No evidence of racism toward Chelsea's Rudiger in Tottenham match

After reviewing CCTV images, working with professional lip readers, and exhausting "all avenues of investigation," the Metropolitan Police found no evidence to support allegations of racist abuse toward Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger during a Dec. 22 match against Tottenham.

"We fully support Antonio Rudiger with the action that he took," Tottenham said in a statement Monday. "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."

The stadium announcer issued three warnings over the public address system after Rudiger complained to referee Anthony Taylor about monkey chanting. Tottenham subsequently opened an investigation and vowed to give lifetime bans to anyone guilty of racist abuse.

Rudiger was allegedly targeted shortly after Tottenham winger Heung-Min Son was sent off for a violent challenge on the Chelsea defender.

"It's just such a shame that racism still exists in 2019. When will this nonsense stop?" Rudiger tweeted. "I really hope that 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."

A Chelsea supporter was arrested for allegedly racially abusing Son, but police decided not to take action against Tottenham.

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