Tottenham say there is no evidence that Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger was racially abused during a Premier League match between the two sides at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month.

“The club and the Metropolitan Police have now exhausted all avenues of investigation following the reported incident at our home fixture against Chelsea on 22 December,” Spurs said in a release on Monday.

“We carried out extensive reviews of CCTV images and footage, working with professional lip readers. All materials and reports have now also been reviewed by the police who have carried out their own investigation.

“The police have notified us today that, having reviewed and investigated, they have closed the crime report as they can find no evidence to support the allegation of racial abuse.

“We fully support Antonio Rudiger with the action that he took — 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.”

Rudiger, a Germany international who is black, was involved in an incident in which Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was red-carded in the 62nd minute and indicated shortly afterwards that he had been the victim of a monkey gesture from the home section of the crowd.

An announcement was made over the stadium PA in the second half, saying: “Racist behaviour among spectators is interfering with the game.” It was the first time FIFA’s protocol for dealing with discrimination at football games was implemented in England’s top division. Two further announcements, timed at 10-minute intervals, followed.