Korea Women's Football Federation Takes Action Over Referee's Inappropriate Remarks Toward Ji So-yun

The Korea Women's Football Federation announced today (August 31) that it has begun taking official steps in response to a referee's inappropriate remarks toward Ji So-yun (Suwon FC Women) during a recent WK리그 (WK League) match.

The federation decided to verify the facts regarding the referee-related issue raised during the WK League match between Suwon FC Women and Seoul City Hall held at Suwon Stadium on August 28, and to formulate follow-up measures to prevent similar cases from recurring.

Ji So-yun received a yellow card while protesting to the main referee about a match situation around the 30th minute of the first half, during which the game was halted for about four minutes.

According to the federation, Ji protested to the referee after hearing expressions such as "girl's day," a slang term referring to menstruation, and comments suggesting she was "sensitive" used in reference to her during the referee crew's wireless communication.

Suwon FC Women also raised an issue regarding the referee's inappropriate remarks, and requested the federation and the Korea Football Association (KFA) to officially verify the facts and take action on August 30.

After listening to Suwon FC Women's stance and reviewing related materials such as the KFA referee report and match supervisor report, the federation officially requested the KFA Referee Operations Team today to verify the circumstances of the remarks and specific facts regarding the match situation, along with an official position including future handling measures.

The federation explained, "Necessary measures should follow as soon as the facts are verified. Practical improvement plans must also be established to prevent the same issue from repeating," adding, "Rather than approaching this solely as criticism or a blame game targeting a specific individual, we have decided to use this as an opportunity to review the match operation culture and communication system."

Accordingly, the federation decided to hold a meeting involving working-level officials, including WK League referees affiliated with the KFA, and participating WK League clubs.

Through the meeting, they plan to discuss ways to handle conflict situations that may arise in the field, communication procedures, and other ways to develop the WK League concerning referees, alongside future response strategies.

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