Real Madrid manager backs Antonio Rüdiger’s claims of being racially abused during Club World Cup match
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso said he believes Antonio Rüdiger’s claims that his defender was subjected to racist abuse during the game against Pachuca in the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday, adding that a FIFA investigation is underway.
Rüdiger and Pachuca’s Gustavo Cabral clashed near the end of the match at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Los Blancos leading 3-1.
The two players came close to one another before Rüdiger spoke directly to referee Ramon Abatti and pointed towards Cabral.
After separating the players, Abatti was seen crossing his arms in what is part of FIFA’s protocol against racist abuse. According to the FIFA website, the gesture is made when the referee “observes or receives a report of abuse” and is part of its three-step process to combat racist abuse.
The game finished moments later, with Real recording its first win at the tournament.
Afterwards, Alonso said that Rüdiger had told him that Cabral had racially abused him.
“We support Toni and we’ll see what happens. The FIFA protocol has been activated and we support him,” Alonso said. “It’s unacceptable and we believe what he said. They’re investigating it now.”
Following the game, Cabral denied making a racist remark to Rüdiger.
“It was a scrap, we collided, he gets a kick, he said that I hit him with my hand and then there was an argument and the referee made the sign of racism,” the 39-year-old told reporters. “There wasn’t anything there.
“It was only a word we say all the time in Argentina. We say ‘c***n de m****a’ (a profanity used to call someone a coward) all the time. I told him the same thing and it ended there. It ended a bit hot because as we were going to the dressing room, he was trying to challenge me to a fight and, well, in that moment you’ve got your pulse racing at a 1,000 (miles an hour) and we were both going towards the corner where the dressing room is and we argued a bit there, nothing more.”
When contact by CNN Sports, FIFA said: “Following an assessment of the match reports, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against CF Pachuca player Gustavo Cabral in relation to the incident involving him and Real Madrid’s Antonio Rüdiger during the FIFA Club World Cup game played in Charlotte on 22 June.”
Pachuca head coach Jaime Lozano told reporters afterwards that he didn’t know much about the incident.
“We didn’t speak about that in the changing room. Yes, we spoke, but exclusively about the match. I haven’t spoken to Cabral about this,” Lozano said.
“I cannot give you an explanation about it because this is the first (I have heard of) this news. Not justifying it at all, but I will speak with him and knowing him for a while, this has never happened with him or with any of these Pachuca players.”
Rüdiger has been subjected to racist abuse in his career before, including for Real in 2023 and when he played for Chelsea in 2019.
Writing in The Players’ Tribune in 2021, Rüdiger wrote that “nothing ever really changes” with racism in soccer despite anti-discrimination campaigns.
“There is an investigation, but nothing really happens. Every once in a while, we have a big social media campaign, and everybody feels good about themselves, and then we go back to normal,” the Germany international wrote.
“Tell me, why did the press and the fans and the players all come together to stop the Super League in 48 hours, but when there is obvious racist abuse at a football stadium or online, it is always ‘complicated’?
“Maybe because it is not just a few idiots in the stands. Maybe because it goes a lot deeper.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Patrick Sung and Matias Grez contributed to this report.
