SEOUL, Dec 6 – The national professional football federation announced on Friday it has issued a warning on the first-division club Seongnam FC after its owner openly criticized officiating, saying his action tarnished the image of the league.
The K League said Lee Jae-myung, Seongnam’s owner, acted in a manner that “defamed the K League’s character” and decided to penalize the club accordingly. The disciplinary hearing for Lee was held earlier in the day.
Last Saturday, Lee wrote on his Facebook page that Seongnam FC, competing in the top-flight K League Classic, had been victimized by biased officiating this season and cited specific matches to illustrate his point.
Lee is also mayor of Seongnam, a satellite city of Seoul located just south of the capital. The local government runs the football club.
Under the league regulations, penalties may be given to individuals or to clubs. Only players and coaches may be disciplined individually. In cases of wrongdoings by other club officials, their team faces penalties.
The “warning” is the most lenient penalty the K League can mete out. Other forms of penalties for individuals include fines, suspension or a lifetime ban.
Cho Nam-don, an attorney who heads the league’s five-person disciplinary committee, explained that Lee offered to keep working to help develop professional football. Cho also said the committee took into account Lee’s efforts in running Seongnam FC so far.
Although the league handed out its lightest penalty, Lee took to Twitter to reject the ruling.
“It may have been just a warning, but since it’s still a form of punishment, I can’t accept it,” Lee tweeted minutes after the league’s decision was announced. “How can the league punish someone for pointing out its mistakes and telling it to do a better job? Not only will I appeal this ruling, I will wage a legal battle to prove what the league has done wrong.”
Lee can appeal the ruling within 15 days. Once Lee submits his appeal, the league then will have 15 days in which to convene a board meeting to review its penalty on Lee.
If Lee decides not to accept the second ruling, he may then file a second appeal with the Korea Football Association (KFA), the sport’s national governing body.
Before attending his hearing, Lee told reporters that he’d rather be banned from the sport than merely penalized for his action, since he has lost faith in football administration here.
Earlier in the day, Lee also asked the K League to consider penalizing Hong Joon-pyo, owner of club Gyeongnam FC, for his criticism of officiating. Hong, governor of the club’s home province, South Gyeongsang, posted on his Facebook, “Everyone knows that the home field advantage lies not in having partisan fans in the stands, but in biased officiating.” Hong also said he felt it was “preposterous” for the league to seek punishment for Lee.
Lee had earlier hinted that politics appeared to be a factor in the league’s inaction against Hong. Hong is a member of the ruling Saenuri Party. Lee is with the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.
