Assistant coach for K League 1 champs Jeonbuk suspended for racist gesture

Members of the Korea Professional Football League's disciplinary committee hold a meeting at the league headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday, reviewing a controversial "slanted-eye" gesture made by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors assistant coach Mauricio Taricco toward referee Kim Woo-seong during a match. Yonhap

An Argentine assistant coach for the Korean football champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was slapped with a five-match suspension Wednesday for making a racist gesture toward a referee.

The Korea Professional Football League (K League) also imposed a fine of 20 million won (US$13,610) on coach Mauricio Taricco, who was seen making what the league officials said was a "slanted-eye" gesture at referee Kim Woo-seong during Jeonbuk's K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen FC on Nov. 8.

During that match, Taricco argued Kim's decision not to call a handball violation on a Daejeon player. The coach was initially shown a yellow card and Kim ejected Taricco with a red card moments later, as the coach kept arguing even after a penalty was awarded following a video review.

After being shown the red card, Taricco placed his two index fingers next to the corners of his eyes.

Kim felt it had been a racist gesture and reported the incident to the K League's disciplinary committee last Thursday. A day earlier, the Korea Professional Football Referee Association (KPFRA) asked both the K League and the Korea Football Association, the sport's national governing body, to open disciplinary proceedings against Taricco and also threatened to take the case to FIFA.

Kim attended the hearing, while Taricco was represented by Jeonbuk's sporting director Lee Do-hyun and technical director Michael Kim, plus an attorney.

In announcing its decision, the committee said video from the incident clearly showed Taricco placing his fingers in the center of his eyes and pulled them toward the corners.

"Such a gesture is universally regarded as something that mocks the appearance of a certain ethnic group. It matches the gesture that has been penalized on many occasions by FIFA," the committee said in a statement. "The coach's action was identical with the so-called slanted-eye gesture that derides people of Asian descent, and it was enough to insult the other person."

Jeonbuk had countered that Taricco had no racist intent and he simply wanted to ask Kim if he hadn't seen the play in question.

However, the disciplinary committee said the universal meaning of the gesture took precedence over the intent the team claimed the coach had. It added that Taricco shouted expletives at Kim and repeatedly screamed the word "racista," the Spanish word for racist, before and after making his hand gesture.

The incident had divided the football community in the days before the league's decision. Generally discontent with the quality of officiating in the K League, fans have accused Kim of making baseless charges against the coach when the gesture was clearly not racist.

Officials with other clubs have said while Taricco's gesture was racially charged, it was also a rash decision on the KPFRA's part to release a statement before the league office's disciplinary ruling.