British Police Arrest Man in His 50s Over Racial Abuse of South Korean Footballer Eom Jisung

British police investigating a report of racial abuse directed at South Korean national team forward Eom Jisung (24, Swansea City) during an English professional football match have arrested a man in his 50s.

According to British broadcaster BBC on the 16th (Korean time), "The Metropolitan Police arrested a 51-year-old man at a residence in Kent (located in southeast London) the day before yesterday on charges of racially aggravated intentional harassment causing alarm or distress."

The man was transferred to a police station in south London and released on bail until mid-January next year, during which he will undergo further investigation.

The Metropolitan Police added, "We take all reports of discriminatory abuse seriously and will work with football clubs and officials to investigate allegations of this type."

After an away match against Millwall in the 2026-2027 EFL Championship (second tier) held at The Den in London on the 14th, Swansea announced, "An allegation was made that racial abuse was directed at Eom Jisung during the second half of today's match."

During the match, which Swansea won 1-0, play was temporarily halted in the second half while the two teams were tied 0-0 and resumed after about six minutes.

This occurred when Eom Jisung, a key player in the South Korean men's football team's gold medal victory at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, was named among Swansea's substitutes and was warming up near the touchline with his teammates.

While the referee was discussing the situation with the fourth official and the managers of both teams, allegations arose that racist chants had been made inside the stadium, and an announcement was broadcast stating that police were using closed-circuit television (CCTV) to identify those involved.

An announcement message urging people not to hesitate when hearing hate speech was also displayed on the stadium's electronic scoreboard.

After the match, Swansea manager Vitor Matos (Portugal) explained that the reason the game was halted was due to a racist incident targeting Eom Jisung.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.