Amid the controversy over the drinking of alcohol in Japan by some members of the South Korean national baseball team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), a similar incident in football 16 years ago has come to light.
A number of posts on online sports-related communities and social networking services (SNS) in South Korea on Monday recalled the incident메이저놀이터, which occurred during the 2007 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.
The posts have been coming in steadily since the baseball team’s alleged misbehaviour during the WBC on the 30th of last month. Social media users have drawn striking parallels between the WBC drinking scandal and the 2007 Asian Cup drinking scandal.
The similarities include players leaving their accommodation to visit bars during the tournament, eyewitness accounts being posted by local residents, and the team ultimately failing to achieve the results they had hoped for at the tournament.
The South Korean national baseball team, which was eliminated from the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) with a record of two wins and two losses, returns home through Incheon International Airport in March. /Photo=News1
A total of four national footballers were involved in the 2007 Asian Cup drinking controversy. Lee Dong-gook, Lee Un-jae, Woo Sung-yong and Kim Sang-sik, who was playing for England at the time, left their accommodation to visit a bar.
They drank until dawn with female hostesses at a bar in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the tournament was being held at the time. The Korean Football Association (KFA), which investigated the incident, said, “It is true that the players had a drink with a hostess, but they did not engage in any other unsavoury behaviour.”
Lee Un-jae, Woo Sung-yong, and Kim Sang-sik then held an official press conference to apologise to the public. Lee Dong-gook, who was in England, apologised in writing. The KFA handed down punishments to the four players, including a one-year ban from the national team.
Meanwhile, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) responded to the WBC drinking controversy by saying, “We are in the process of determining the facts after receiving a statement from each player,” and “If there is any discrepancy, we will hold a penalty committee.” Sports fans are eagerly anticipating how the KBO’s decision will differ from the KFA’s punishment 16 years ago.