Athletic’s Nico Williams experiences racial abuse by Atletico fans
Athletic Club forward Nico Williams became the recent player to experience racial abuse from Spanish football fans.
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Nico Williams experiences racial abuse
The Spain international said he heard shouts of “monkey” in Athletic’s 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid.
Williams, 21, addressed the issue towards referee Juan Martinez in the first half, which prompted a temporary halt in the game.
“I went to take the corner and I heard monkey noises,” Williams said on DAZN. “There weren’t many of them. There are dumb people everywhere … I hope this changes bit by bit.”
When Williams netted an equalizer before half-time, he responded to the slurs by pointing his forearm in reference to his skin color.
“It was with a bit of anger. It’s not normal to be insulted for the colour of your skin,” he said.
Nico’s older brother and teammate, Inaki Williams, also shared his thoughts regarding his brother’s experience.
“They jeered him every time he touched the ball,” Inaki Williams said. “I can’t understand that. They should jeer the aggressors, not the victim.”
LaLiga, who saw numerous racial discrimination incidents this year alone, released a statement condmening the deplorable act.
“There’s no place for racist or hateful behaviour in sport.”
“La Liga vehemently condemns any racist acts and will continue working to eradicate this inexcusable behaviour from our sport.”
LaLiga and its racism crisis
Unfortunately, LaLiga has yet to halt any verbal racial attacks against its players.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior has been a target for racist remarks for quite some time.
Vinicius’ teammate, Aurelien Tchouameni, also fell victim to Mallorca fans earlier this month.
Even Sevilla defender Marcos Acuña and coach Quique Sanchez called out Getafe fans for their racist behavior.
