Tottenham Hotspur have rejected claims that they ignored UEFA's anti-racism protocols after Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger was abused at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during a match against Chelsea.
Referee Anthony Taylor was notified by the German that he had heard monkey noises which led the match official to explain to managers Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho what had happened to the defender.
He also notified his colleagues over the situation which led to a message being broadcast over the public address system.
Fans were warned that racism was "interfering with the game" to complete the first step in the UEFA protocols over how to respond to racist abuse during a match.
The guidelines state that the referee must request an announcement to be made in the stadium asking for the abuse to stop, warning that the match will be abandoned if it continues.
The second step should see an announcement in the stadium with the match halted temporarily.
The third and final step, if racist abuse persists, is for the match to be abandoned.
A total of three announcements were made during the match against Chelsea leading to suggestions that Tottenham had broken away from the three step process set out by the protocols.
However, the repeated announcements regarding did follow protocol according to a Spurs spokesman.
UEFA’s protocol is for one announcement to be made and if there was a second complaint of racism, the players would be taken off the pitch for 15 minutes.
The Spurs spokesman insisted that since only one reported allegation was made their understanding of the protocol was that several repeated messages were to be broadcast, leading to confusion over whether there had been more than on instance of racist abuse.
In his post-match press conference Lampard addressed the monkey nosies Rudiger claimed had been directed at him during the match.
"All I know is that Toni Rudiger said he heard a racist chant towards him," said the Chelsea manager.
"I haven’t had an individual conversation with Toni. I have only addressed the group and a couple of the lads in doping.
"Of course I am going support Toni, as we would support any of our players or opposition players if this happens, whatever stadium it happens at. It needs to be dealt with."
