Wolves' Hee Chan Hwang 'suffers racist abuse' before teammate punches opponent in friendly
Wolves begun their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 win over Como on Monday, but the game was overshadowed by an unfortunate racist incident involving Hwang Hee-chan
Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan was the target of an alleged racist remark by a Como player in a pre-season friendly, according to manager Gary O'Neil.
The incident supposedly took place during the second half, with Wolves winger Daniel Podence sent off for throwing a punch in the aftermath. O'Neil admitted he asked Hwang if he wanted the game to be abandoned but he didn't want that as Wolves went on to register a 1-0 win in Marbella, Spain.
"Channy heard a racist remark which is really disappointing," said O'Neil. "I spoke to Channy about it, checked whether he wanted to take the team off or come off himself, but he was keen the team carried on and got the work they needed.
"It's really disappointing that it happened, that we have to talk about it and that it impacted the game - not ideal and things like that shouldn't be around."
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"He [Hwang] is really disappointed, of course, and understandably. I’m proud of the fact that he wanted to carry on and put his team first in a difficult moment for him. Channy will be OK. He’ll get our full support and we’ll pick him up in the morning and make sure he’s OK."
This is not the first time Hwang has been targeted by alleged racist abuse. Back in 2022, Wolves said they were "very disappointed" after Hwang was on the end of "discriminatory abuse" from SC Farense supporters during a pre-season friendly.
Following the game against Como, Wolves said that they will be submitting a formal complaint to UEFA regarding the incident.
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