Inaki Williams Says He Was Racially Abused During Athletic vs. Espanyol

Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams said he was racially abused during the 1-1 draw against Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.

Reuters' Richard Martin shared Williams' comments after the match, while the player also took to social media with a "Say No to Racism" message:

According to the Spanish Football Podcast, Williams reported the abuse to his captain, Iker Muniain, who informed the referee during the match. The game continued after the complaint, and the official made no note of the incident in his post-match report:

La Liga president Javier Tebas condemned the abuse (h/t football writer Colin Millar):

Millar shared video footage of the abuse:

The 25-year-old Williams has spent his entire professional career with Athletic, a club known for its strict Basque-only player policy. He was the first black player to score for the side and has been a regular since making his debut in 2014.

As sports writers Sid Lowe and Andrew Gaffney noted, Spanish football has a bad track record when it comes to dealing with incidents of racist abuse during matches:

Since UEFA instituted its three-step protocol to combat racist abuse during matches, only one fixture in Spain's top two divisions has been halted. In December, the match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was abandoned after Roman Zozulya, a white forward from Ukraine, was accused of being a Nazi by Rayo fans.

Athletic's Asier Villalibre and Raul de Tomas of Espanyol scored the goals in Saturday's draw. Athletic are now seventh in the table, while Espanyol are just one point ahead of last-placed Leganes.