The Spanish Football Federation’s disciplinary committee announced on Wednesday that it has opened proceedings against Sporting Gijón for racist abuse by their fans towards Athletic Bilbao's Inaki Williams.
The decision comes after match referee Carlos Clos Gómez halted play in El Molinón in the 22nd minute due to what he described in his match report as “the sound of noises imitating the onomatopoeia of a monkey directed at Ghana target Iñaki Williams from one of the stands.”
Sporting face a home ban for abuse towards Williams, who was born and raised in Bilbao by parents from Ghana and Liberia.
The referee reported the incident to Sporting’s pitch delegate Mario Cotelo and an announcement was made over the PS system asking the fans responsible to stop. “Once the public announcement had been made play was resumed and there were no further incidents,” Clos Gómez wrote in his report.
The day after the match Sporting issued a statement condemning “any act of racism” and published a video with several first team players denouncing racism.
Bilbao only employs players who hail from the Basque region of Spain and France and Williams, 22, is the first black player to score