"Disgrace of a statement" - Italian Soccer Club Como garners criticism over response refuting racism allegations towards Korean player Hwang Hee-chan

On Tuesday, July 16, the Italian soccer club Como released a statement responding to the recent racism allegations against the Korean player, Hwang Hee-chan. The statement denied the allegations and stated that the defenders made no comments to the player regarding his race.

Previously, during a friendly match between Wolverhampton and Como that took place on July 15, some of the players from the Italian club called the Korean player, "Jackie Chan."

This led to allegations of racism from the players of the club. As the news began to spread across the internet, fans were angered at the players' actions and behavior.

However, the statement only fueled netizens' anger as the club simply refuted the racism allegations. Since the statement failed to include an apology towards the Korean soccer player, Hwang Hee-chan, netizens expressed their displeasure.

"I hate incompetence so much. Please let sensible professionals handle statements like this. This did not take me 5 minutes to type. Put this out and let the defender himself put out a two paragraphed statement apologizing on his Instagram," one person said.

"Defending racism and then labeling a player who is stepping up for their teammate due to said racism as “blowing the situation out of proportion” is shameful. Disgusting excuse of a player, of a club, and of a statement. May justice avenge you soon," another person said.

"This is up there with the worst responses to an alleged racist incident I’ve seen. Embarrassing," one netizen said.

More netizens expressed that the statement released by Como was unprofessional and disrespectful towards the Korean soccer player, Hwang Hee-chan.

"You're an absolute disgrace of a football club if you think this is an appropriate response," one person said.

"Racism in Italian football is so structurally deep that they think statements like this are completely normal," another person added.

"What kind of a response is that Como. The fact they don’t understand how others may perceive the stereotype as derogatory lies in the problem," one netizen wrote.

---

Italian Soccer Club Como denies racism allegations against the Korean player Hwang Hee-chan

The incident that took place on July 15 involved the players from Wolverhampton and Como. After the two defenders from the Como make the allegedly racist comment towards Hwang Hee-chan, a fellow teammate from Wolverhampton, Daniel Podence, punched the opposing player.

He was also benched immediately after the incident. The manager of Wolverhampton, Gary O’Neil, stated that the comment towards Hwang Hee-chan was disappointing. To address the same, Como released a response statement which read:

"Our club does not tolerate racism and condemns all forms of it in the strongest possible way. We spoke to the defender in question to understand what was said."

The statement continued:

"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."

It further concluded:

"As fas as out 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 the incident blown out of proportion."

---

On the other hand, Wolverhampton also issued a statement on July 15. Head coach Gary O’Neil expressed that they will be filing a formal complaint to UEFA Union of European Football Associations, regarding the incident.