SEOUL (AFP) – The South Korean Football Association has officially filed a complaint with the International Football Federation over an alleged racist remark directed at Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Hwang Hee-chan, despite Italian club Como denying the allegations.

An unnamed Como player was accused of calling Hwang “Jackie Chan”, the popular Hong Kong movie star known for his martial arts films, during a pre-season match in Spain on Monday.

On Tuesday, Como insisted his player “did not say anything in a derogatory manner” and “the reaction of certain Wolves players has blown the incident out of proportion”.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said it had sent an official letter to world body FIFA on Thursday expressing its “serious concern over the racist acts suffered by Hwang Hee-chan”.

The letter asked FIFA to take action and “eradicate racism on the football pitch,” the association said on its official X account on Thursday.

Earlier last week, Hwang said on Instagram that the coaching staff and his teammates had said they would walk him off the field “if necessary” following the alleged abuse.

“Racism is unacceptable in sport and in all aspects of life,” he added, with his post receiving more than 143,500 likes.

According to Como, the anonymous player said: “Ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan.”

The Italian club insisted the comment related to “the player’s name and the constant references to ‘Channy’ by his own teammates on the pitch”.

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil said Hwang has the full support of the Wolves group.

Hwang is not the first South Korean player to face racist attacks while playing in European competition.

In 2021, eight men were arrested in England and Wales on suspicion of tweeting racist abuse at Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min.

Son said in 2022 that he faced “unimaginable” racism as a teenage footballer in Germany and that he was happy for “revenge” when South Korea knocked Germany out of the 2018 World Cup.