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The shocking news that Hwang Hee-chan was racist by his opponent during a pre-season practice game was reported.
The Guardian reported on the 15th (Korea time) that Wolverhampton officially protested against Hwang Hee-chan's racism.
Wolverhampton played a friendly match against Serie A promotion team Como on the 16th. In the match, Hwang Hee-chan was reportedly put in at the beginning of the second half. The problem occurred in the middle of the second half. The British media reported 'The players gathered, and Daniel Podens punched the Como defender. He was immediately sent off. The incident occurred when Wolverhampton players protested and angered at the racist remarks against Hwang Hee-chan, saying that racism against Hwang Hee-chan occurred. No specific comments were made.
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When manager Gary O'Neill asked about his intention to play after the incident, Hwang Hee-chan concluded the friendly match with Como by expressing his intention to finish the game despite the damage of racism.
Como, who was promoted to Serie A ahead of the 2024-2025 season, is a club that has attracted more attention due to the performance of Cesc Fabregas. Moreover, Como's owner is the Jarum Group, which is led by the Hartono brothers, who are Indonesian businessmen and considered Indonesia's richest man. Since a shocking racist incident occurred in a team led by an Asian owner, the player's attitude is more surprising.
After the game, O'Neill said "Chani heard really disappointing racist comments. I talked to Channi about it and made sure he wanted to be out, but he wanted to keep doing what he needed for the team. Of course he's really disappointed, and I understand. I'm proud of the fact that he wanted to continue leading the team in a difficult time."
Then "Chani will be fine. We will fully support him, and we will also meet him tomorrow morning to make sure he is okay. We are a team together,' he said, explaining that he would not spare any support for Hwang Hee-chan.
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The Guardian said: "'Wolverhampton will file a formal complaint with UEFA after racist insults against Hwang Hee-chan became controversial. These friendly matches were a reminder of the turmoil in Wolverhampton's match against Levante two years ago. There were four exits from the game at the time. That summer, Hwang Hee-chan was also the target of racist abuse in the match against FahrenheitHe explained that the racist incident against Hwang Hee-chan had already caused problems in the friendly match two years ago.
In the pre-season ahead of the 2022-2023 season, Hwang Hee-chan played in the game against SC Fahrense, but at the time, he had heard racist comments from Fahrense fans, not opponents.
Hwang Hee-chan informed the referee and Wolverhampton captain Conor Coady, and the Wolverhampton club also said in a post-match statement at the time that they were disappointed that a player had become a racist target in a friendly with Fahrenheit. It will report the incident to UEFA and demand a thorough investigation. We will support the affected players. Wolverhampton is also expected to protest directly this time.
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Meanwhile, the case of racial discrimination against Korean athletes continues until recently. In June, Tottenham's teammate Rodrigo Bentancur directly discriminated against Tottenham captain Son Heung-min, drawing tremendous criticism.
Bentancourt appeared on Uruguay's Forla Kamiseta at the time and was asked to save Son Heung-min's uniform. But when asked, he said, `What about Son's cousin's uniform. Son Heung-min and his cousin look exactly the same," he replied with a racist remark. Fans criticized him after judging that his remarks were disparaging to Asians.
Bentancourt immediately apologized to Son Heung-min on social media when the controversy began. He said "Sony! I apologize for what just happened, it was a very bad joke. You know I love you, I didn't mean to ignore you or hurt you. I love you." However, the controversy did not diminish despite the short apology and the lackluster attitude, and Son Heung-min expressed his position on this.
Son Heung-min has already talked about it with Bentancourt about the incident. He made a mistake, knew it, and had already apologized."
Then "Bentancourt didn't mean to say something aggressively. We're brothers, nothing changes. Now it's past, and we're one. We will meet again in pre-season and fight as a team," he said, concluding his position with a heart emoji.
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Tottenham also expressed their position. Tottenham said on social media that following Rodrigo Bentancur's comments in an interview video and the player's public apology, the club has helped ensure a positive outcome on the matter. This will include additional training for all players based on diversity, equality, and inclusion goals. We feel Sonny, the captain, can draw a line on this case and fully support the team to focus on the new season ahead. We are very proud of our diverse and global fan base and squad. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated in our clubs, in our games, in our wider society,' it said.
The EPL also shared Tottenham's stance, saying 'EPL and the clubs are doing their best to eradicate all forms of discrimination. 'We will continue to support clubs, players and staff who take action against abuses caused by discrimination.' EPL also said it would not spare any support in such cases.
digh1229@sportschosun.com
