Hwang Hee-chan faces racist abuse in Farense friendly

Wolverhampton Wanderers is filing a formal complaint to UEFA after a player — believed to be Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan — was the target of racist abuse from fans of Portuguese side Farense during a friendly at Estádio Algarve on Sunday

Hwang Hee-chan in action against Farense in a picture shared on the Wolverhampton Wanderers Twitter account. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Wolverhampton Wanderers is filing a formal complaint to UEFA after a player — believed to be Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan — was the target of racist abuse from fans of Portuguese side Farense during a friendly at Estádio Algarve in the Algarve, Portugal on Sunday.

Wolves issued a statement later on Sunday saying the club is filing a complaint because of the abuse, but did not name the player that was the target.

"We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse from opposition fans this evening's game with SC Farense," the statement said. "We will be reporting the incident to UEFA and asking our opponent and relevant authorities to investigate. We are offering our full support to the player involved.

"Racism in any form is completely unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged."

A statement from Wolverhampton Wanderers calls for an investigation into racist abuse aimed at a player on Sunday. [WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS]

Hwang secured Wolves a draw in the game after scoring a penalty to tie the score at 1-1. It appeared to be while taking the penalty that Hwang saw opposition making a racist gesture behind the goal.

Hwang immediately complained to the referee and to his own team captain Conor Coady, but the game continued. It wasn't until after the match was finished that Wolves issued a statement.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]