Sporting face action over racist abuse of Iñaki Williams
The Spanish Football Federation's disciplinary committee is to open an investigation into the abuse heard at El Molinón during Athletic game.
The Spanish Football Federation’s disciplinary committee announced on Wednesday that it is to open proceedings against Sporting Gijón for an “incident among the crowd” during the match against Athletic Bilbao last weekend.
"Monkey imitations"
The decision comes after match referee Carlos Clos Gómez halted play in El Molinón in the 22nd minute due to what he described in his match report as “the sound of noises imitating the onomatopoeia of a monkey directed at Iñaki Williams from one of the stands.”
The referee reported the incident to Sporting’s pitch delegate Mario Cotelo and an announcement was made over the PS system asking the fans responsible to stop. “Once the public announcement had been made play was resumed and there were no further incidents,” Clos Gómez wrote in his report.
Sporting reaction
The day after the match Sporting issued a statement condemning “any act of racism” and published a video with several first team players denouncing racism.