Seol Young-woo's Agency Warns Against Malicious Comments Following '6.9 Rating' Defeat

Less than a few hours after the South Korean national football team suffered a shocking defeat against South Africa in the final match of the FIFA World Cup North America Group A stage, a player from the national team has announced plans to take strong action against fans.

Today (June 25), the agency representing Seol Young-woo, who started as a right wing-back in the match, released a statement immediately after the game declaring a firm response to malicious comments.

The agency stated, "We have recently identified instances of abusive language, personal attacks, defamation, and the spread of false information in some comments and messages that clearly exceed the boundaries of healthy expression of opinion."

They further warned, "Such behavior cannot be justified under any circumstances and can cause serious harm not only to the player himself but also to his family and those around him. We intend to take strong, uncompromising action against illegal activities such as malicious slander, personal attacks, and the spread of false information."

Seol has recently faced criticism for his underwhelming performance in the World Cup.

In today's match, Seol received a rating of only 6.9 from the football statistics site FotMob.

Although he was the only wing-back on the national team to start in all three group stage matches, he failed to make a significant impact, leading some fans to leave malicious comments on his personal social media accounts.

After the match, Seol met with reporters in the mixed zone and said, "As a defender, I feel responsible because if we hadn't conceded, we could have advanced on our own with just a draw."

He added, "It's not over yet, so we talked about preparing with the mindset of focusing on the next match," describing the atmosphere within the national team.

▶ "If we don't play well, we should be criticized," says Seol Young-woo, sharing his calm thoughts after the South Africa match

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.