The Korea Professional Football Association held its fifth disciplinary committee meeting on the 19th and decided on penalties against Jeonnam's Yoo Jin-hong and Yoo Kyung-min, as well as Valdivia.
The association imposed a 15-match suspension and a fine of 4 million won on Yoo Jin-hong, who was caught drunk driving, and issued a warning to Yoo Kyung-min, who was a passenger. The suspension applies only during the period in which he is eligible to participate as a registered player in the K League.
Yoo Jin-hong was caught by police on the 12th while driving under the influence, after colliding with a guardrail. His teammate Yoo Kyung-min was also in the vehicle. Jeonnam reported this incident to the Korea Professional Football Association immediately after the police caught him. Jeonnam stated, "We take this matter seriously and will strengthen drunk driving prevention education for all members of the team to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again. We once again deeply apologize to our fans."
The Korea Professional Football Association has recently intensified penalties for drunk driving. If a player’s drunk driving is concealed without being reported to the club, the penalties may be increased. Notably, starting this year, the league is conducting club tours to raise awareness about various misdeeds, including drunk driving.
A fine of 5 million won was also imposed on Valdivia (Brazil), who publicly criticized the referee's decision. After the match between Jeonnam and Busan IPark in the K League 2 on the 15th, he wrote on his social media account, along with match footage, a message expressing that he could not understand the referee’s decision in five languages. In Korean, he wrote, "I don't know who is worse, the referee or the assistant referee, or any of us! There was no VAR (Video Assistant Referee) favorable to Jeonnam, and I can't even confirm the match content."
Article 2 of the K League's disciplinary regulations states that if negative comments about the referee's decision are made through interviews or social media immediately after a match, a penalty of a suspension of 5 to 10 matches or a fine between 5 million won and 10 million won may be imposed.
[Photo] Provided by the association.
[OSEN]