Seoul: The national football governing body announced on Friday that it has initiated disciplinary proceedings against a referee accused of making a sexually harassing remark about a player during a match.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Football Association (KFA) stated that its amateur referee evaluation group has decided to refer the case to the KFA's Disciplinary Committee due to the seriousness of the situation. The incident involves Ji So-yun of Suwon FC Women in the WK League, who accused referee Bae Sun-young of making an inappropriate comment during a match last Friday. The alleged remark, perceived to be about Ji, was, "She has been sensitive from early on. She must be on her period," and was reportedly made to another official during the live-streamed match on the Korea Women's Football Federation's YouTube channel.
Ji recounted the incident saying that she was protesting a previous non-call by Bae when she heard the remark. "After I heard her, I told her, 'What did you just say? You can be disciplined for saying something like that.' And that is when she gave me a yellow card," Ji said. As Ji expressed her anger, Bae reached for a red card but refrained from showing it to her.
Bae initially denied making the comment but later clarified that her remarks were not directed at any specific player and were merely part of a casual conversation with a fellow official. She also claimed not to have used the word "period."
In response to the incident, Suwon FC Women requested further investigation by both the Korea Women's Football Federation and the KFA earlier this week. The KFA has committed to implementing measures to prevent any recurrence of similar incidents and is exploring ways to foster a culture of mutual respect between players and officials in women's football.
Ji, aged 35, holds the distinction of being the most capped South Korean footballer, male or female, with 175 matches. She also holds the record for scoring the most international goals of any South Korean player, with a total of 75.