VALENCIA, Spain, Jan 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki
Williams said he was the victim of racist abuse on Saturday during his team’s
1-1 draw away to Espanyol in La Liga.
“I’m a little sad because of the draw but especially because I have
suffered racist insults,” Williams told the official club website after the
game. “It’s something that no black player or player of any race wants to
hear. It’s something totally out of place.”
“People have to come to the stadium to enjoy the game, to cheer on their
team, to enjoy football. It’s a game of friendship, of the team,” added the
forward.
“The truth is that it has been a sad day because of what I am telling you,
because these events that are totally out of place do not have to happen,” he
said.
Inaki wrote later on social media: “It is very sad that today we continue
to experience racism in football. We have to end it. Thank you for your
support. #Nomocracies #Semiostracism.”
Athletic Bilbao offered their backing for the 25-year-old. “All our support
to @Williams45,” the club wrote in a message on Twitter. “Before anything,
zero tolerance for racism.”
La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation are yet to comment but La Liga
president Javier Tebas said it had been a dark day for the sport after
violence also broke out between fans of Barcelona and Valencia before their
fixture at Mestalla.
“Today we have taken a step back in the work that we started years ago,”
Tebas wrote on Twitter.
“The violent incidents between fans of Barcelona and Valencia, the racist
insults made at Inaki Williams — these things are doing a lot of damage to
Spanish football.
“La Liga takes responsibility. We will look at the clubs where there has
been wrongdoing.”
Referee Jose Sanchez made no mention of racism in his official report of
the match between Espanyol and Bilbao.
The game also continued, unlike in December, when a Spanish second division
fixture between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was suspended with the agreement
of the two clubs and La Liga.
Some Rayo supporters had chanted “Zozulya is a Nazi” in the first half
against Albacete’s Ukrainian striker Roman Zozulya, who had previously played
for Rayo.