Jürgen Klinsmann, 59, remains the head coach of the South Korean national soccer team.
Klinsmann held a press conference at the Football Hall on Nov. 22 to share his overall assessment of the four A-Match matches since taking over, as well as the direction of the national team’s future operations.
It is unusual to hold a press conference to evaluate four matches after taking over. With the question marks that have been hanging over his head since his appointment only getting bigger, Klinsmann answered questions from the media. But he hesitated when asked about the four-game winless streak and the lack of color in his tactics.
Even more frustrating is the lack of support for players who have been suspended by the KFA for racist comments. At the same time, in the same building, a punishment committee was held for Ulsan Hyundai’s Park Yong-woo, Lee Kyu-sung, and Lee Myung-jae for racist comments on social media.
The committee decided that while the players did not intend to demean or insult a specific race or individual on social media, using racial characteristics such as skin color as the subject of a joke could be considered racist. This is the first racist punishment in the 40-year history of Korean professional soccer.
While it has been criticized as a slap on the wrist, the league has sent a clear message about racism. Ulsan Hyundai quickly responded to the controversy by issuing an apology and a plan for self-discipline, while head coach Hong Myung-bo blamed the players for the incident and called for awareness.
Ulsan’s Lee Cheong-yong, vice president of the Korean Professional Footballers’ Association, said, “We feel deeply responsible, and like the recent racist comments against Son Heung-min in the EPL and Vinicius in La Liga, players must always be careful.”
However, Klinsmann also criticized the players who were punished for their racist comments. In the two June A matches that followed the racist incident, Klinsmann faced criticism for playing the offending players.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Klinsmann said before the game, and later in the press conference, “You always have to respect them as people before they are players. If they need help, I will be there for them,” he added.
In a time when we are trying to educate athletes and raise awareness of human rights to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, it is difficult to understand why he continued to make such condescending comments. This is not to say that one player should be singled out for this incident. But as the head coach of a national team, this attitude goes too far. 메이저사이트
“It’s as if he’s giving the impression that Korean soccer players can be racist and still play for the national team,” many soccer fans said. Furthermore, racism has been a big issue in European soccer lately. It’s important to be able to send a clear and sharp message. It’s even more frustrating when it’s a former star player who is capable of doing so. Even worse than the “no tactics” that are being called into question is Klinsmann’s coddling.