Chelsea are looking into allegations that Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was the victim of racist abuse during their Premier League clash last weekend.
Son played 79 minutes of the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, which ended in chaos as both Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel received red cards following a confrontation after the final whistle. The Blues have now been made aware of footage that appears to show an apparent racist gesture being made towards Son when he was taking a corner in front of the Shed End in the second half of the match.
The club are yet to comment, but The Athletic reports that they have launched an internal investigation to try and identify the perpetrator.
Sadly this isn’t the first time that Son has been targeted by racist abuse while playing for Tottenham. The South Korea international received online abuse following Spurs’ 3-1 defeat by Manchester United in April 2021. United reacted by suspending three season-ticket holders.
A West Ham supporter was fined for racially abusing Son during a Carabao Cup tie at the London Stadium in October 2018. The fan pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated offence in May 2019 and was fined £184 and ordered to pay £110 in costs by Thames magistrates court.
The London Stadium incident followed another involving West Ham back in November 2017 when Son was racially abused after he wound down his car window to pose for a picture with another fan.
Son responded two months later by making a finger-to-lips gesture after scoring against West Ham in a 1-1 draw at Wembley. “It was nothing special, I don’t want to talk about it,” Son said after the game. “I think they knew why I did it and that’s it.”
Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham on Sunday contained plenty of incidents, with Tuchel and his Spurs counterpart Conte both charged by the FA over alleged improper behaviour, after they clashed following the final whistle. The FA are also investigating comments made by Tuchel about referee Anthony Taylor’s performance during the match.
Asked if it was best if Taylor shouldn't referee Chelsea again, Tuchel replied by referring to Cristian Romero’s hair-pull of Marc Cucurella before Harry Kane’s late equaliser. "Maybe it would be better,” he said. “But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decisions. Since when can players be pulled at their hair? Since when is that? And if he does not see it, I don't blame him.
"I didn't see it, but we have people at VAR who check this and then you see it and then how can this not be a free-kick and how can it not be a red card? How?"
