Inaki Williams, 31, and his younger brother Nico are stars in Athletic Bilbao. A club that traditionally only recruits players born or raised in the Basque Country.
Born in Bilbao, Williams has previously told how his Ghanaian parents crossed the Sahara Desert on foot on their way to Spain, where his mother, pregnant with him, climbed over the fence between Spain and Morocco.
Fate is fate. If it weren't for my parents, I wouldn't be here, neither would Nico, he says.
"Means a lot"
Athletic's former team captain Oscar de Marcos recently quit football. Inaki Williams has taken over the armband and thus becomes the first black team captain in the history of the Spanish top club.
It means a lot. We have the luck to represent many people who come from outside and to be role models. It's important to us, says Williams.
A heated debate about migration erupted in Spain this summer after three nights of violent confrontations between far-right groups and locals – many with a North African background – in the city of Torre Pacheco in the southeastern part of the country.
Pensioner attacked
The unrest broke out after a 68-year-old pensioner claimed to have been attacked by three men of North African origin.
Anti-immigration protests were held and the far-right party Vox has proposed that all illegal migrants should be deported from the country.
It seems like the extreme right is in fashion. We who have a voice will continue to fight, continue to refute people and continue to tear down walls, says Williams.
