Seoul: An Argentine assistant coach for the South Korean football champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors received a five-match suspension for making a racist gesture toward a referee.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Professional Football League (K League) also fined coach Mauricio Taricco 20 million won (US$13,610) after he was seen making a "slanted-eye" gesture at referee Kim Woo-seong during Jeonbuk's K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen FC on November 8. The gesture was reportedly made after Taricco argued against Kim's decision not to call a handball violation on a Daejeon player. Initially given a yellow card, Taricco was later ejected with a red card as he continued his protest.

After being shown the red card, Taricco placed his index fingers next to the corners of his eyes. Kim perceived this as a racist gesture and reported it to the K League's disciplinary committee. The Korea Professional Football Referee Association (KPFRA) had also urged both the K League and the Korea Football Association to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Taricco, threatening to escalate the matter to FIFA.

During a hearing, Kim was present, while Taricco was represented by Jeonbuk's sporting director Lee Do-hyun, technical director Michael Kim, and an attorney. The disciplinary committee, upon reviewing video evidence, concluded that Taricco's gesture was similar to those penalized by FIFA, mocking the appearance of a certain ethnic group. The committee stated that the gesture was enough to insult others, despite Jeonbuk's claim that Taricco had no racist intent and merely wanted to question the referee's vision regarding the play.

The committee emphasized that the universal interpretation of the gesture overrode the intent Jeonbuk attributed to Taricco. They also noted that Taricco used expletives and shouted "racista," the Spanish word for racist, before and after making the gesture.

The incident sparked division within the football community ahead of the league's decision. Some fans, already dissatisfied with K League officiating, accused Kim of making unwarranted allegations against Taricco. Meanwhile, officials from other clubs acknowledged the racial implications of Taricco's gesture but criticized the KPFRA's decision to issue a statement before the league's disciplinary ruling.