A South Korean defender will visit a Japanese football club later this week to apologize for his violent actions during the Asian Football Confederation Champions League match last month, his club said Wednesday.
Jeju United said Baek Dong-gyu will visit Urawa Red Diamonds to personally apologize to Yuki Abe, whom he elbowed during a melee in the AFC Champions Leagued round of 16 second leg at Saitama Stadium in Saitama, Japan, last Wednesday.
(Yonhap)
"Baek wanted to meet Abe in person to apologize," a Jeju official said. "He will be on vacation from today, and he is set to visit Japan in the near future."
With Jeju trailing 3-0, Baek rushed off his bench to the other side of the pitch to take down Urawa captain Abe at the end of extra time. The 26-year-old center back, an unused substitute in the match, was ejected for his actions and has been criticized heavily by football fans.
"Baek apparently thought his teammates were hit by Urawa players, so he threw an elbow," the official said. "Baek was in agony after he realized that the family of the player he struck was at the stadium. He really wanted to apologize in person, so we told Urawa about this."
Baek, who is married to a Korean-Japanese woman, joined Jeju from second-tier club FC Anyang in 2015. Jeju failed to advance to the AFC Champions League quarterfinals after losing to Urawa on the aggregate score of 3-2. (Yonhap)
