Como have accused Wolves of blowing “out of proportion” an alleged incident of racist abuse in their friendly on Monday, after one of their players compared Hwang Hee-chan to the martial arts stuntman Jackie Chan.
Hwang considers the remark derogatory and it is understood this was not the first time in his career that the South Korea forward has been likened to the actor, who is from Hong Kong. Wolves contemplated abandoning the match, which was played behind closed doors in Marbella.
Como, promoted to Serie A last season, have sought to defend the actions of their player. In a statement their director Mirwan Suwarso, speaking on behalf of the 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. We are disappointed that the reaction of certain Wolves players has seen the incident blown out of proportion.”
The incident occurred midway through the second half, triggering Daniel Podence to punch an opponent and receive a red card, but Hwang insisted Wolves complete the game with 10 men. Wolves won 1-0 courtesy of a Matt Doherty header.
“Channy heard a racist remark which is really disappointing,” the Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, said. “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. 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.”
Wolves said they would lodge a formal complaint to Uefa but the governing body said the matter fell outside its jurisdiction.
“The fight to eliminate racism, discrimination and intolerance from football is a major priority for our organisation,” a spokesperson said. “While Uefa will continue its fight to eliminate all forms of discrimination in football, the organisation’s disciplinary bodies can only take action for incidents that take place in Uefa competitions.”
