Ref stops play after fans hurl racist abuse at Iñaki Williams

The 2016/17 LaLiga campaign is less than a day old but already, we have seen some ugly scenes. At El Molinón, in this afternoon's meeting between Sporting and Athletic Club, played was stopped while the referee dealt with racist chants coming from one section of the crowd. On minute 22, Carlos Clos Gómez called a halt to the game for the best part of a minute. In his post-match report, he stated:  "Racist Insults : On 22 minutes I stopped the game for one minute as a result of the sounds imitating the onomatopoeic call of a momney coming from one end of the ground and aimed directly at player No.11 Don Iñaki Williams Arthur. Said event was communicated to the pitch delegate for appropriate instructions to be relayed over the stadium PA system. Once the public had been addressed, play was resumed and no further incidents of such kind occurred".

It is worth noting that under such circumstances, the referee has the authority to suspend the game; in this case, Sporting could find themselves fined and have a partial stadium ban imposed.