NEW CHELSEA SIGNING Antonio Rudiger has called for “justice” from FIFA over the alleged racism he suffered while representing Roma in Serie A.
The German centre-back has claimed to have been subjected to abuse from the stands in Italy, while Lazio’s Senad Lulic was suspended for 20 days last December for “harmful and offensive” comments aimed at Rudiger.
Rudiger says his treatment left him feeling “alone” and the 24-year-old wants to see harsher sanctions taken against those found guilty.
“I just want justice,” he said. “I want FIFA or the FA in Italy just to suspend those people who do that.
“It is not all the people in Italy who are like that. If we always talk about racism in Italy, people think that all Italians are racist people and it is not like that.
“I just mean those specific people who do it. Those people need to be banned from the stadium or fined.
You feel alone. People love to say ‘stay calm’ or ‘don’t do anything’. It is easy for you to say those things when you are not black and you never feel what it is like.
“You cannot even put yourself in my position of how that feels. In that moment, it is like this. You are alone. You have to be strong. But each human is different. Someone takes it and doesn’t react. Others react. I can understand both.”
24-year-old Rudiger made his Chelsea debut on Saturday in a 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said he is eager to compete against some of the best strikers in the world.
“You need to prepare for a physical game. There are a lot of strikers – Jamie Vardy, Lukaku, a lot of strikers – where you look at them and it is a challenge. The whole league is a challenge.
“It is a dream to be here. I always wanted to play in the Premier League and it is now years since my name was first linked to Chelsea.
“Now I am here and I am very happy and want to thank all the people that made this come true. At the time (in 2016) it wasn’t the right moment and now I am here. The whole squad has helped me feel welcome, they are very nice and very kind and very respectful. I like that.”
Additional reporting by Sinead Farrell.
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