WOLVES have dismissed a half-baked statement from Como claiming a racist remark directed at Hwang Hee-chan during a pre-season friendly had been: “blown out of proportion”.
And vowed to carry out their threat to report the flashpoint incident to UEFA and the Italian FA – despite UEFA claiming it cannot investigate the alleged abuse.
The controversy erupted during a closed-doors friendly in Marbella which Wolves won 1-0.
The clash was marred by an incident after 68 minutes when Hwang alleged he had been racially abused by an opponent.
His furious team-mate Daniel Podence was so incensed he lashed out at a Como defender and was red-carded by the referee.
Incredibly, Como issued a statement later defending the unnamed defender at the centre of the racist row.
Como’s statement said: “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 team-mates 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 this incident blown out of proportion.”
Privately, Wolves were staggered by Como’s statement and found it embarrassing.
“We are working with the FA to submit a formal complaint which will go to UEFA and the Italian FA,” said a club spokesman.
“We are continuing through the official channels.”
Wolves feel that Como’s statement is an admission the offence took place.
“It seems clear that we’ve heard him referred to as Jackie Chan,” said the spokesman.
“We don’t know what the context was. But that’s what he (Hwang) considers to be racist because Jackie Chan is obviously a Chinese actor.
“So he (the offending player) has basically insinuated that all Asian people look the same.
“That’s Hee-chan’s position.”
UEFA, Europe’s governing body, insists it cannot look into the incident because it did not take place during a competitive UEFA match.
A UEFA spokesman said: “The fight to eliminate racism, discrimination and intolerance from football is a major priority for our organisation.
“Discriminatory behaviour is not tolerated in UEFA’s competitions. Any such behaviour would fall under Article 14 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations.
“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.”
Despite that Wolves will push on with their fight and there will be a meeting between FA officials and the Wolves players who were involved later this week.
Only then will the FA take the matter to the relevant bodies.
Wolves have confirmed they will not be taking disciplinary action or fining Podence for his red card, for violent conduct.
“He was obviously protecting his teammate,” we were told.
“Gary (O’Neil) said yesterday that Daniel had apologised for reacting the way he did.
“That’s the end of it as far as we are concerned.”
Asked how Hwang Hee-chan was, the spokesman replied: “He’s good but he wants to make sure it’s taken further. He’s happy the club is supporting him in that.”
