Products You May Like
Como defended one of their players after he was alleged to have used an anti-Asian remark aimed at Wolverhampton Wanderers‘ South Korean striker Hwang Hee-Chan during a preseason friendly Monday, despite the player telling the Italian club that he called his opponent “Jackie Chan.”
Wolves had earlier said they planned to file a complaint with UEFA over the incident, which led to an angry response from Hwang’s teammates and saw Daniel Podence receive a red card for punching a Como player, the midlands club said.
Neither Hwang nor the Wolves have identified the Como player who made the comment.
In a statement posted to Como’s official account on X, Mirwan Suwarso, a spokesperson for the club’s ownership group, said: “Our club does not tolerate racism and condemns all forms of it in the strongest possible way.
“We spoke to the defender in question to understand what was said. He has told us the comment he made, to his co-defender, was ‘ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan.’
“Having spoken to our player at length, we are confident this was in reference to the player’s name, and to the constant references of ‘Channy’ made by his own teammates on the pitch.
“As far as our club is concerned our player did not say anything in a derogatory manner.”
Como’s statement went on to blame the Wolves players, claiming their response has exacerbated the incident.
“We are disappointed that the reaction of certain Wolves players has seen the incident blown out of proportion.”
After the game, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil said he had asked Hwang whether he wanted the match to be abandoned or to be substituted, but the 28-year-old wanted the game to continue.
Wolves won 1-0 at their training camp in Marbella, Spain. Hwang captained the side to victory despite having to finish the match with 10 men.
“Channy will be OK. He’ll get our full support and we’ll pick him up in the morning and make sure he’s OK. It’s a together group,” O’Neil said.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.