Serie A newcomers Como have released a statement insisting that one of their players did not intentionally make any derogatory comments to Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan during a pre-season friendly on Monday night, but have condemned racism ‘and any form of it’.
An unnamed Como player was alleged to have made racist remarks to South Korea international Hwang Hee-chan during a pre-season friendly in Marbella on Monday night.
The incident sparked a fiery reaction from some of Hwang’s Wolves teammates and eventually led to the dismissal of forward Daniel Podence, who reportedly threw a punch in the aftermath.
The unsavoury scenes occurred mid-way through the second half of the pre-season run-out.
Como respond to Hwang Hee-chan incident
Como claim in their statement that one of their defenders said “ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan,” but insist that this was in reference to Hwang Hee-chan’s name, and the fact that his teammates refer to him as ‘Channy’.
“Our club does not tolerate racism and condemns all forms of it in the strongest possible way,” the club wrote in an official statement on Tuesday morning.
“We spoke to the defender in question to understand what was said. He told us the comment he made to his co-defender was: “ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan.”
“Having spoken to our players 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.
“We are disappointed that the reaction of certain Wolves players has seen the incident blown out of proportion.”
Official statement regarding yesterday's incident during our friendly vs. Wolves: pic.twitter.com/BuacRrbOQU
— Como1907 (@Como_1907) July 16, 2024
What Wolves coach O’Neill had to say
“Channy heard a racist remark which is really disappointing. I spoke to Channy about it, checked whether he wanted to take the team off or come off himself, but he was keen the team carried on and got the work they needed,” O’Neill said in his post-match interview.
“It’s really disappointing that it happened, that we have to talk about it and that it impacted the game – not ideal and things like that shouldn’t be around.
“He’s really disappointed, of course, and understandably. I’m proud of the fact that he wanted to carry on and put his team first in a difficult moment for him. He knew it was a pre-season trip and he wanted the lads to work and get their minutes, even though he’d suffered something hugely offensive.
“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.”
Gary O'Neil addresses the incident that overshadowed our first pre-season training game.
🗣️🎥 pic.twitter.com/YCz5sGduyM
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 15, 2024