Home Featured Espanyol-Athletic Club marred by Maroan Sannadi racist abuse

Espanyol-Athletic Club marred by Maroan Sannadi racist abuse

Athletic Club forward Maroan Sannadi received racist abuse from home supporters during their 1-1 La Liga draw against Espanyol.

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Sannadi receive racist abuse from Athletic Club fans

Athletic forward Inaki Williams said that their fans racially targeted his teammate Sannadi in the 17th minute of the match.

Referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez first halted the game after activating the anti-racism protocol.

The big screens displayed a message, and an announcement warned fans that the game would be temporarily suspended or even abandoned after the next incident.

It was initially believed that Williams, who was continuously whistled by Espanyol fans thereafter, was the target of the insults because he had alerted the referee to the incident.

However, the Ghana international clarified that Sannadi, who is of Moroccan origin, was the actual target.

“You come to football to enjoy yourself,” Williams told reporters. “These type of things cannot happen. There was a moment in the first half in the corner when racist abuse was shouted at Maroan [Sannadi] from the stands.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened here. It happened to me a few years ago as well. Four people should not tarnish all Espanyol’s supporters, though. Their full-back [Omar] El Hilali is Moroccan. [Former Cameroon goalkeeper] Thomas N’Kono is a legend here.

“The referee acted well, activating the protocol and putting up the messages on the big screens. I hope there’s action against those that abused [Sannadi].”

“In the moment I didn’t know if it was Maroan or Iñaki, just that the referee explained that he had activated the protocol,” Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde said in a news conference.

“But it doesn’t matter which player it was. We don’t like that this happens to our player or to opposition players, in this stadium or in any stadium.”

LaLiga continues to combat racist abuse

There have been multiple cases of racist insults against players in Spanish football over the years.

LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have worked hard to combat racism in the game.

Last June, three Valencia fans received an eight-month prison sentence for racially abusing Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during a La Liga game in May 2023, marking the first verdict of its kind in the country.

In September, a court handed a 12-month suspended sentence to a Mallorca supporter who used racist insults against Vinicius and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze in February 2023.

A month later, Spain’s national police arrested four individuals responsible for a hate campaign against Vinícius.