Wolves forward Daniel Podence was shown a red card during a pre-season friendly match against Serie A side Como after allegedly punching an opponent.
The match, which took place in Marbella, saw Wolves take a 1-0 lead before the incident unfolded in the 68th minute. Matt Doherty’s goal secured the 1-0 victory for Wolves in their first pre-season game.
Meanwhile, the incident occurred after Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan claimed he was racially abused by a Como player.
Following the alleged racist abuse towards Hwang, players from both teams got involved in a confrontation, leading to Podence throwing a punch at an opponent.
However, it is important to note that Podence did not punch the Como player accused of making racist remarks, the punch landed on another player.
Podence’s ejection added to the drama in what was supposed to be a friendly exhibition match.
Wolves winger Daniel Podence was given a straight red for throwing a punch at an opposition player in their training game against Italian side Como where Hwang Hee-Chan was allegedly racially abused…
— george (@StokeyyG2) July 15, 2024
Absolutely no room for racism at all.
[@LiamKeen_Star] pic.twitter.com/hc5MNBYmKL
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil speaks on Daniel Podence punch incident
After the incident, there were discussions between players and coaches from both teams as tensions ran high on the pitch.
Speaking to the Wolves in-house media team, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil shared what happened.
O’Neil said he tried to convince Hwang to stop playing during the match, but the South Korean insisted on playing the full 90 minutes.
O’Neil said: “Channy heard a racist remark, which he was disappointed with. I spoke to Channy [Hwang] on it and checked whether he wanted me to take the team out, or whether he wanted to come off himself.
“He was keen that the team carried on and got the work that they needed.
“But it’s disappointing, disappointing that we have to talk about disappointingnted that it happened, disappointing that it impacted the game. Not ideal for a pre-season friendly, things like that should never happen.
“[We’re] proud of the fact that he [Hwang] wanted to carry on and that he put his team first in a difficult moment for him.
“Channy will be okay, he’ll get our full support.”
Wolves issued a statement condemning racism
After the incident, Wolves issued a statement condemning all forms of racism or discrimination, emphasizing that it should never be tolerated.
Wolves released a statement that read: “Racism or discrimination in any form is completely unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged.”
Unfortunately, Hwang faced racist abuse in 2022 after he was subjected to discriminatory insults by SC Farense fans during a pre-season match.
The club also announced its intention to file a formal complaint with Uefa regarding the incident.
The club added that they will be “submitting a formal complaint to Uefa regarding the incident.”
Como deny claim of racial talk that led to Daniel Podence punching a player
However, the club denied none of their players made any derogatory remarks towards anyone, stating that the incident was simply a misconception of what was uttered.
In response to the incident, Como provided the following statement:
“Our club has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and strongly condemns any form of it.
“After speaking with the player involved, it has been clarified that his comment to his teammate was not intended in a derogatory manner.”
The player explained that he was simply telling his teammate to ignore the opponent, who he referred to as ‘Jackie Chan’, about his name and the nickname ‘Channy’ used by his teammates.
“We are confident that there was no malicious intent in the comment made by our player. We are disappointed by the exaggerated reaction by some Wolves players regarding this incident.”
Meanwhile, Como, supported by Thierry Henry and guided by Cesc Fabregas, will make their debut in Serie A this season.
