‘A sad day’: Espanyol v Athletic Bilbao marred by alleged racist chants

After Saturday’s incident involving Iñaki Williams, there is still a lingering sense that racism is not being taken seriously enough

Iñaki Williams had just begun the long walk to the bench when he heard something. There were 20 minutes left and Athletic Bilbao were drawing 1-1 at Espanyol, but that didn’t matter much any more. He was heading towards where Iker Muniain was about to take corner, yet his mind was elsewhere now. Barely a metre from Muniain as he ran up and bent the ball into the box, the pair crossing paths, his attention was drawn to the stands instead. Williams slowed slightly, head turned, hearing it more clearly now. He couldn’t tell how many, but it was too many. There was a hint of a challenge, but he kept going. Then, as turned up the touchline he did stop. “Sons of bitches, all of you,” he muttered. As he sat on the bench, someone leant across: “What happened?” he was asked. “Uh! Uh! Uh!” he said.

“I leave here a bit sad, because of the draw, but above all because I suffered racist abuse,” Williams said afterwards. “It’s something that no black player, or any player of any race wants to hear. It’s totally unacceptable: people should come to the ground to enjoy it, to support their team, to enjoy football, which is a team sport, a sport of friendship. It’s a sad day.”

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