Como claim 'Jackie Chan' comment made to Hwang Hee-chan wasn't racist

Football

Published: 17 Jul. 2024, 09:03 Updated: 17 Jul. 2024, 09:52

Como claim 'Jackie Chan' comment made to Hwang Hee-chan wasn't racist

A statement posted on Como 1907's official X account on Tuesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Serie A club Como 1907 responded to accusations that one of its players racially abused Hwang Hee-chan in a statement Tuesday, defending the player while admitting that he called his opponent “Jackie Chan.”

“We spoke to the defender in question to understand what was said,” the club said in a statement posted in English on its official social media channels. “He has told us the comment he made, to his co defender, was ‘ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan.”

“Having spoken to the 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 teammates on the pitch.

“As far as our club is concerned our player did not say anything in a derogatory manner.”

The statement went on to blame the Wolves players for blowing the incident “out of proportion.”

The Como statement comes after an incident during a friendly between Como and Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.

According to the Premier League club, Hwang reported the incident during the second half of the closed-door match, leading to angry reactions from his teammates.

Daniel Podence was then shown a straight red card for punching a Como player in the following fracas. According to reports, it is unclear whether the player he struck was the one who is alleged to have abused Hwang.

The details of what was said to Hwang were not shared until Como released its statement on Tuesday.

References to Jackie Chan, an actor from Hong Kong, are common in anti-Asian hate speech, as are jokes about Asian names that follow different formats to names in other countries.

Hwang Hee-chan’s surname is Hwang and his first name is Hee-chan. His teammates at Wolves use the nickname Channy, based on the second syllable of his first name.

Although Como defended the comment as not said “in a derogatory manner,” UEFA’s anti-racism guide specifically highlights that racism is not always intentional or intended to cause harm, but can occur “through a lack of understanding and ignorance.”

Hwang responded to the Como player's remark in an Instagram post shared several hours following the Como statement, calling racism "intolerable" and expressing gratitude for his club.

"Racism is intolerable in sports and in all aspects of life. After the incident, the coaching staff and my teammates immediately told me that they would leave the field with me if needed, and they kept checking on my wellbeing. I am very grateful to my teammates once again," Hwang said.

"Despite of all this, I wanted to carry on and we did what we had to do on the pitch! Lastly Thank you to everyone who sent me supportive messages. There is no room for Racism."

Monday’s incident was not the first time Hwang has been subjected to racist abuse during a preseason game. In 2022, Hwang was subjected to racist abuse during a friendly against Portuguese side Farense at Estádio Algarve in the Algarve, Portugal.

Similar incidents are also still common in the Premier League, with both Hwang and Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min subjected to racist abuse from opposing fans at least once a season. Former Manchester United star Park Ji-sung used to get the same treatment, with his own fans even singing a song about Koreans eating dogs.

Son was even the subject of a racist joke from one of his own teammates earlier this summer: Rodrigo Bentancur told a presenter on Uruguayan TV that all Koreans look the same.

〈i style="font-weight: bold;"〉Update, July 17: 〈i style=""〉Added statement from Hwang Hee-chan.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]