La Liga superstar receives racial abuse during game

Athletic Bilbao superstar Nico Williams has been subjected to racial abuse during a game between the Basque club and Atletico Madrid on Saturday, April 27.

Upon readying himself to take a corner kick, Williams claimed he heard monkey chants from the crowd. Following this, he asked Juan Martinez to bring a halt to the proceedings. The game was then paused momentarily, as a stadium announcement urged the home fans to stop chanting - Atletico players Antoine Griezmann and Jose Maria Gimenez also attempted to quell the chants.

The game ended in a 3-1 victory to the Madrid side. Rodrigo De Paul opened the scoring for Atletico, before Williams found an equaliser for Bilbao on the stroke of half time. Just seven minutes later, Joaquin Correa restored Atletico’s lead, with Unai Simon scoring an own goal in the 80th minute to seal the deal for Diego Simeone’s men.

Speaking after the game about the incident, Williams said: "I have gone to take a corner and I have heard monkey sounds. There are stupid people everywhere but nothing happens, we have to keep working.

“I hope this changes little by little because in the end we are fighting internally and externally against this. It comes with a bit of anger - it is not normal that they still insult you because of your skin tone."

This is not the first time a player in La Liga has taken issue with racism. Earlier in the season, Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr tearfully said: [via The Guardian]: “Sadly there are people who go to football it seems to let loose all their rage, their anger.

“When it seems that it hurts someone, they do it more and it’s a pity. Those type of people should not be allowed into stadiums because it’s the ugliest thing that exists in sport.”