Korea Fair Trade Commission to review disciplinary action against referee over 'inappropriate remarks' in women's football

*This content was translated by AI.

• Referral to Korea Fair Trade Commission by the Korea Football Association

The Korea Football Association has decided to handle an incident involving a head referee who made inappropriate remarks during a recent WK League women's club football match, referring the matter to the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

According to the Korea Football Association on the 3rd, the Association's Amateur Referee Evaluation Committee held a meeting at Cheonan Korea Football Park today and discussed the situation and refereeing decisions that occurred during the WK League match between Suwon FC Wimin and Seoul City Hall held at Suwon Sports Complex last month on the 28th. The Amateur Referee Evaluation Committee deemed the matter serious and decided to refer it to the Association's Korea Fair Trade Commission based on the referee regulations.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission is scheduled to hear explanations from those involved regarding the situation during the match, review the relevant contents from various angles in accordance with regulations, and then determine whether disciplinary action should be taken and its severity. Furthermore, it plans to prepare measures to prevent recurrence of similar cases and strengthen education to establish a culture where WK League players and referee members respect each other.

Previously, referee Bae Seon-young became the subject of controversy for making remarks using the euphemism 'Girl's Day,' which refers to menstruation, in response to protests by Ji So-yun (Suwon FC Wimin). At the time, Ji So-yun received a warning after protesting against the head referee's remarks. It was reported that the head referee initially denied the remark itself but later changed their statement to say it was a conversation among referees. According to the Korea Football Association, Referee Bae explained that "the remark was not directed at a specific player but was a conversation between referees."

However, contrary to the referee's claim, the Referee Evaluation Committee viewed this incident as subject to referral to the Association's Korea Fair Trade Commission, ultimately placing the head referee in a situation where they could face disciplinary action through the Korea Fair Trade Commission. The Korea Football Association side added, "Since establishing the 2023 Ethics Regulations and the Football Human Rights Protection Regulations, we have been working to prevent human rights violations in the football community," and stated, "We plan to take even more active measures not only for the WK League but also to improve ethical awareness across the entire football community and strengthen a culture of mutual respect."

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*This content was translated by AI.