Michel Owono receives racist threats over mistaken identity

Michel Owono, a defender for FC Can Vidalet in Spain’s Lliga Elit, has reported receiving a flood of hate messages, racist insults and threats on social media from fans who have mistaken him for Jesús Owono, the FC Andorra goalkeeper whose accidental collision with Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel in a LaLiga Hypermotion match on Monday left De Miguel dead, El Periódico reported.

The two players share a surname and Equatoguinean origins, and the resemblance in names has led some supporters to direct abuse at the wrong man. Michel Owono, who posted screenshots of the messages on his social media accounts, said he had no connection whatsoever to the incident in Andorra.

Owono says abuse stems from mistaken identity

“I want to make clear that I am not Jesús Owono and that I have no connection to what happened,” Michel Owono wrote on his social media.

In a longer statement shared online, Owono reflected on the state of online discourse: “We live in a society that is increasingly sick, where racism, hatred and intolerance seem to be gaining ground. We cannot allow someone to be judged, insulted or threatened because of their skin color or their origin. Respect and empathy should be above everything.”

He added that football “should unite, not divide,” and that hatred, harassment and discrimination “have no place anywhere, neither in sport nor in life,” ending with a call “for a world with more respect, less hatred and more humanity.”

Can Vidalet also published a similar statement on its own social media channels, rac1 reported.

Condolences for Jesús de Miguel

Alongside his condemnation of the abuse, Michel Owono expressed his condolences for the death of Jesús de Miguel, the Madrid-born Tenerife forward. “My condolences to the family, to his loved ones and to everyone around the player,” he wrote, according to El Periódico. “In these difficult moments, they have all my support and affection.”

De Miguel died after the collision with Jesús Owono during Monday’s second-tier match between Andorra and Tenerife.

Andorra goalkeeper closes social media; club defends him

Meanwhile, Jesús Owono of FC Andorra has shut down his social media accounts in response to the wave of insults and threats he has received, cronicaglobal.cat reported. He has not yet commented publicly on De Miguel’s death.

FC Andorra, however, issued condolences for the forward’s death and moved to defend its goalkeeper, making clear that there was never any intention to cause harm in the play, according to cronicaglobal.cat.

Two players, one surname, two very different nights

Michel Owono, who plays in the lower tiers of Spanish football for Can Vidalet, found himself absorbing the anger of fans who conflated him with the Andorran goalkeeper at the center of the fatal incident. Both men are of Equatoguinean origin, and both carry the Owono surname, but only one was on the pitch when De Miguel was fatally injured.

For Michel Owono, the distinction has mattered little to those sending abuse.