Incheon United’s ‘water bottle throwing incident’ continues to stir up controversy.
On November 11, Incheon Football Stadium hosted the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 match between Incheon United and FC Seoul.
After the final whistle blew, the stadium was in shambles. Seoul goalkeeper Baek Jong-beom performed an uppercut gesture while facing the Incheon supporters. The Incheon fans were furious. One by one, they threw their water bottles. In the process, Seoul’s Ki Sung-yong was hit by a water bottle and fell down.
Incheon immediately bowed their heads. The team apologized in the name of Incheon CEO Lee Jeon-soo, and decided to close the S section of the stadium for two league games at home in May. This is about 5,000 seats out of the 18,159 seats in the stadium.
The situation is unlikely to be resolved easily. The KFA is expected to review the match commissioner’s report, the results of the commissioner’s meeting, and the club’s statement of explanation before beginning the disciplinary process. The Korea Professional Footballers’ Association has called on the KFA to take action. It said it would work with the International Federation of Professional Footballers’ Associations (FIFPRO) to address the issue.
It’s uncomfortable for other teams to see what’s happening.
It’s not “someone else’s problem”. Other clubs have experienced similar incidents, and it could happen again. Furthermore, this happened just ten days after the Federation allowed direct sales of cans. In fact, teams have been very nervous about their home games since the water bottle incident. 안전놀이터 추천 They increased safety announcements and increased security. Some teams even asked all spectators to remove plastic bottle caps before entering the stadium.
“We’re being cautious. It’s unfortunate. We understand the feelings of the fans, but the human rights of the players are also very important.” “As we can see from this incident, it happened in the heat of the moment. It’s hard to stop the moment because it’s a personal emotion. Every team prioritizes the safety of their home games. But something like this happens in the moment, so there are limits. I think Korean soccer is in a transitional period of creating a culture. The clubs need to do more.”
In the past, the K League has seen smoke bombs thrown at players and referees, plastic bottles thrown, and other incidents. The KFA stipulates that clubs can be fined “not less than 5 million won” for crowd disturbances. In September of last year, Daejeon Hana Citizens was fined 10 million won for throwing bottles at referees. In December of that year, Suwon Samsung was fined 5 million won for fans throwing smoke bombs and bottles.