A REFEREE was forced to temporarily stop a match in La Liga between Sporting Gijon and Athletic Bilbao because of racist chanting aimed at Bilbao’s Inaki Williams.
The referee confirmed in his match report in his post-match report he had suspended play because of ‘monkey calls’ aimed at the 22-year-old.
The match was stopped and a stadium announcer called on the fans to stop the chanting.
Spanish football has a history of racist incidents and Sporting were fined a paltry £2,600 for directing abuse at Getafe’s Manuel Vega Arango back in 2008.
The club’s then-president said at the time: “We want to continue to be very proactive and Sporting will always root out any type of racist behaviour.
“You can’t have a policeman for every fans, but we have to try and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
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Williams provided an assist for Borja Viguera later in the match which Athletic lost 2-1.
The striker was born in Bilbao a Ghanaian father and Liberian and mother — and was the firs first black player to score for the Basque-only club back in 2014.
He is highly-rated and has been part of the club since he was 18.
He has already made 63 appearances for the club and won his first Spain cap in May — rejecting the overtures of the Ghanaian FA.
Williams was linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.
However, he signed a new deal until 2021 in January, which includes a buy-out clause of £43million.
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