Exclusive Players' Union Demands "Permanent Dismissal of Referee Bae Sun-young"…"Interim Head of Referee Committee Must End Immediately"
The Korea Professional Football Players' Association (KPFA) has called for "immediate removal from refereeing duties and permanent dismissal" of referee Bae Sun-young, who made sexually harassing remarks to Suwon FC Women player Ji So-yeon (KPFA chairperson) during a WK League match. The players' union stated that it is sharing this matter with the International Professional Football Players' Association (FIFPRO) and plans to notify FIFA and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation).
The players' union made this statement in an official written response to an inquiry from this media on the 1st. The union stated, "We are closely sharing the progression of the sexual harassment and discrimination incident against Chairperson Ji So-yeon by the referee through the FIFPRO reporting system," and "FIFPRO fully supports KPFA's response and its own procedures." It added, "In coordination with FIFPRO, we plan to share serious human rights violations against players that occurred during the match by the referee with FIFA and AFC."
FIFPRO, established in 1965 and headquartered in the Netherlands, is an international representative body of professional football players, representing players' associations from over 60 countries worldwide and approximately 60,000 professional players. As an organization that has entered into official agreements with FIFA and handles player rights protection and labor environment improvement, FIFPRO's support for this matter shows that the incident could spread beyond the domestic football community to the international stage.
Regarding the level of disciplinary action, the union demanded measures that go beyond internal procedures within the football association. The players' union stated, "We urge the immediate removal from refereeing duties and permanent dismissal of the referee in question," and "We strongly demand that the Korea Football Association immediately refer this matter to the Sports Arbitration Committee of the Korea Sports Council, beyond the internal disciplinary procedures within the football association, and that the highest level of disciplinary action commensurate with the responsibility be taken."
The players' union has defined this incident as a structural problem rather than an individual referee's aberration. The union stated, "This incident merely reveals part of the problems inherent in the current referee operation system," and noted, "Continuous criticisms have been raised regarding multiple issues including the referee's qualifications, match operation, fairness and transparency of referee assignment."
In particular, regarding the Korea Football Association's referee operation system, the union demanded that "the current interim referee committee head system be ended immediately, and along with personnel and institutional reforms in overall referee operations, a transparent and fair referee assignment system independent from external improper interference or conflicts of interest must be established."
Regarding the severity of the remarks, the players' union stated, "It is difficult for any professional sports field worldwide to tolerate a situation where a referee who should protect players and manage matches fairly makes sexually harassing and discriminatory remarks against a player during a match, and then presents a yellow card to the player who raised concerns about it," adding, "The severity of the matter is even greater given that it occurred in a public setting where players from the opposing team could hear it."
The players' union warned that if the Korea Football Association does not take substantial improvement measures, "we will actively consider additional measures including international solidarity and joint response."