No heavy responsibilities, no poignant reflection. That’s how the Ulsan Hyundai team responded to the unprecedented racist incident. The apology, signed by CEO Kim Kwang-guk, is full of head-scratching language. Moreover, the apology was not intended for the victims of racism, but only for “domestic use” in Korean. These are some of the things that make Ulsan’s apology for the racist incident seem insincere.
Earlier, Ulsan posted an apology on the club’s social media (SNS) on the 28th, signed by CEO Kim Kwang-guk. The apology came 17 days after four players and a club employee were accused of racism, and a day after the club held its own punishment committee to discuss its own discipline. Amid criticism of the KFA’s “cotton-batting” punishment, attention was focused on Ulsan’s level of self-discipline, which the club answered with “no punishment”. A one-game suspension for coach Hong Myung-bo for “captain” Jeong Seung-hyun, who was previously exempted from federation discipline, and the dismissal of a club employee were the only additional club-level punishments decided by the club’s punishment committee.
However, it was the contents of the apology posted under the name of the federation’s president, Kim Kwang-guk, that caused the most outrage among fans. First of all, the names of Park Yong-woo, Lee Kyu-sung, and Lee Myung-jae, who were suspended for one game and fined 15 million won by the federation, and Jung Seung-hyun, who was disciplined by Hong, were written in English initials such as A-C-D. Even Sasalak Hyprakorn (Buriram United), a Thai player whose real name was mentioned twice and who was a direct victim of racism, was referred to only as “B player,” “Southeast Asian quarterback’s name,” “Southeast Asian quarterback mentioned in the conversation,” and “that player”. Even when they posted a club-wide apology, they hid who was at fault and who they were apologizing to. 토토사이트
The apology also explicitly stated the judgment of the federation’s punishment committee that “the players did not intend to demean or insult any particular race or individual. Even though the club’s discipline and the federation’s discipline are unrelated, the apology used the federation’s punishment committee’s judgment as a “shield”. This is the same reason why there are many precedents of clubs disciplining players before the federation when they cause social controversy, and why there was a lot of attention on Ulsan’s own level of discipline after the federation’s punishment. However, the apology letter signed by the CEO only mentioned the federation’s punishment, leaving out the club’s punishment the day before. 메이저토토사이트
Not only that. Kim Kwang-guk’s apology was full of head-scratching phrases. “As allegations of racism arose,” “Although the federation’s punishment committee said that there was no intention to demean or ridicule,” and “Although the players involved did not intend to do so,” were all expressions that were far from sincere reflections and apologies for the incident. It was not intentional racism, and it was a repetition of the excuse that it was a judgment call by the federation’s penalty committee.
The part of the apology that caused the fans to cringe was Kim Kwang-guk’s call to the Ulsan fans: “Now it’s our turn”. Racism and