Al Ain, a member of the UAE professional league, officially announced the recruitment of Park Yong-woo through the club’s SNS channel on the 17th (Korea Standard Time). It is his first overseas performance since his professional debut.
Racism controversy broke out in the K League last month. It started when Lee Kyu-sung left a comment on a post posted on social media by Ulsan’s deputy captain Lee Myung-jae, saying, “The quarter in Southeast Asia is strong.” The first problem was to express the tanned skin color by comparing it to Southeast Asians. 스포츠토토탑
On top of that, Park Yong-woo mentioned the Thai national team member, who played for Jeonbuk Hyundai in the past. “Sasalak’s form is crazy,” he said, leaving a racist comment on his skin color. Even the team manager left a comment saying, “Sasalak Super Tackle (Tackle),” raising the controversy.
The situation has caused racist controversy from players to staff. Park Yong-woo, who mentioned the killing, apologized, saying, “I’m sorry to the player who would have been hurt by the rash words and actions of his teammate’s play style and appearance, and all fans and people around him.”
Park Yong-woo was selected for the South Korean national soccer team led by head coach Jürgen Klinsmann amid controversy. He played in both Peru (0-1 loss) and El Salvador (1-1 draw). Fans cast a negative eye on the player who is at the center of the controversy over racism wearing the Taegeuk mark.
Disciplinary action has been decided. The Korea Professional Football Federation granted Park Yong-woo, Lee Kyu-sung and Lee Myung-jae a suspension of one game and 15 million won in fines. Despite the serious problem of racism, which arose for the first time in the history of Korean football, the prevailing opinion was that it was a soft punishment.
Klinsmann, who selected Park Yong-woo, said during the A match, “Everyone makes a mistake. I think it’s our role to give advice as a leader.”I think it’s my role to give advice and help in a good way even if the players make mistakes in the future,” he said.
Also, after the end of the A match, “I will always be in front of the players. I think I should be respected as a person before a player. “I want to say that if the players need my help, they will always be in front of me,” he defended. Klinsmann’s opinion was also difficult to understand.
The possibility of going to the Middle East suddenly spread over Park Yong-woo, who returned from disciplinary action. Ulsan did not seem to give up Park Yong-woo without recruiting a substitute, but Al Ain’s move was finally decided.
Al Ain, where Park Yong-woo will join, is also a club where Lee Ho and Lee Myung-joo, who played for the national team in the past, played. He is the UAE’s representative club and has also won the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL). Park Yong-woo and Ulsan, who have been accompanied since 2017, have completed their trip.