Spanish football has once again been overshadowed by an incident of racism. The 21-year-old Spaniard Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao says he was racially insulted by several spectators during the game at Atlético Madrid.
According to the media, Williams said he heard monkey noises before taking a corner after his club lost 3-1. “There are stupid people everywhere, but nothing happens.” The game was briefly interrupted.
A little later in the game, the black professional scored to equalize for Bilbao and pointed to his forearm while celebrating the goal. He did that with anger in his stomach, Williams said. “It is not normal that you are still insulted because of your skin color.” Atlético Madrid wrote in the evening on X, formerly Twitter, that the club is against “all forms of racism and hatred.”
Incidents of racism have been increasing in the Spanish Primera División for years, and more and more professionals are drawing attention to the problems. “There is no place for racist or hateful acts in sport,” the league wrote on X on Saturday evening. It will “continue to work to ensure that such intolerable behavior” is banned from sport.
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