Athletic Bilbao's Inaki Williams was subjected to racist abuse today during the club's 1-1 draw with Espanyol.A video from Movistar+ clearly shows fans of the Catalan club directing monkey chants at the Spanish striker as Bilbao take a corner.Williams had just been substituted, hence why he was walking so close to the Espanyol fans.It's yet another incident of racist abuse directed at a black footballer in Europe and the problem only seems to be getting worse.The video below is hard to watch, but it is damning evidence that Espanyol should receive severe punishments for the cowardly actions of their supporters.

VIDEO

Find them, ban them, fine them and then deduct points, that's the only way to deal with these people.

Williams spoke to the media after the game about the incident, saying: "I'm sad because of the draw but above all because I suffered racist insults, no black player or any player wants to hear that.

"It's completely out of order people should go to matches to enjoy themselves abd to support their team.."

The 25-year-old also tweeted after the game, writing: "It is very sad that today we continue to live racism scenes in football. We have to end it among EVERYONE. Thanks for your support. #NOalRacismo#SayNoToRacism✋🏿✋🏼."

It's now down to La Liga to act. If they choose to cower away and inflict minimal penalties on Espanyol, then they have failed to help prevent an illness which is plaguing the beautiful game.

Williams deserves praise for speaking out and we can only hope that no more black footballers suffer the same plight this season - although that is sadly wishful thinking.

The fact that UEFA's three-step protocol for racist abuse wasn't enforced today at the RCDE Stadium speaks volumes about the state of the issue across Europe.