Wolves will submit a formal complaint to Uefa after their pre-season match against Como was overshadowed by alleged racial abuse towards Hwang Hee-chan.
The South Korea forward reported the incident midway through the second half, after which Daniel Podence was sent off for punching an opponent, but the training game was completed. Podence was among the Wolves players left incensed at an alleged racist remark. Como were promoted to Serie A last season with former Wales assistant manager Osian Roberts as caretaker.
The Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, was open to abandoning the match but Hwang was adamant he wanted the game to continue despite the incident in the 68th minute.
“Channy heard a racist remark which is really disappointing,” 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’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 [Tuesday] and make sure he’s OK. It’s a together group.”
The game, played in Marbella, was Wolves’ first in preparation for the Premier League season. Wolves won the friendly, played behind closed doors, 1-0 courtesy of a Matt Doherty header. Mario Lemina captained Wolves following the £40m sale of Max Kilman to West Ham.
The fractious friendly marks another pre-season incident, two years on from Wolves’ game against Levante descending into chaos. That game featured four first-half red cards, two for each team. Later that summer Hwang was the target of alleged racial abuse in a match against Farense.
Wolves said in a statement on Monday evening: “Racism or discrimination in any form is completely unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged, and Wolves will be submitting a formal complaint to Uefa regarding the incident.”
Uefa 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.”
Wolves plan to contact the Football Association to action their next steps with the relevant footballing authorities.
