FIFA to revisit Park’s case

FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, is scheduled to hold a disciplinary meeting Tuesday at its Switzerland headquarters to revisit a South Korean player’s controversial post-match celebration at the London Olympics.

The 23-year-old Park Jong-woo came under the international spotlight in August in London, following his celebration of South Korea’s bronze medal against Japan with a banner that read, in Korean, “Dokdo Is Our Territory.”

Dokdo refers to a group of South Korea’s easternmost islets, to which Japan has also laid territorial claims.

Dokdo has been a source of diplomatic tensions between the Northeast Asian neighbors for years.

Park Jong-woo (File photo)

If FIFA reaches a ruling, it will report the decision to the International Olympic Committee, which will refer to the FIFA ruling to take its final disciplinary action.

FIFA had been scheduled to hand down a disciplinary ruling on Park on Oct. 5 but postponed that decision.

At the time, FIFA had said it would discuss Park’s case again the following week, but has taken more than a month to bring the matter back to the table.

FIFA asked the Korea Football Association, the sport’s governing body here, for additional information on the case. Also, KFA chairman Cho Chung-yun traveled to Zurich to discuss the situation with FIFA officials.

At the London Games, South Korea defeated Japan 2-0 to claim the bronze medal, its first Olympic medal in men’s football.

Park, however, was barred from attending the medal ceremony and has yet to collect his bronze medal, as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee deemed his celebratory action political. (Yonhap News)