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After a major uproar, Colombian soccer player Edwin Cardona apologized for an offensive gesture he did during a minor scuffle in Seoul, while his team was playing a friendly match against South Korea, sparking accusations of racism.
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Cardona made a slant-eyes gesture during the brawl after teammate James Rodriguez tried to pull a South Korean up to its feet.
The gesture was caught on camera and went viral on social media, causing an uproar in both Colombia and South Korea.
South Korean captain Ki Sung-yueng condemned the move, calling it a racist act. "I thought the Colombians played a physical, rough game today, but it can happen in football," Ki said. "But racist behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Colombia has world-class players, and I was extremely disappointed to see such action."
Colombia’s Edwin Cardona expressing his idiocy with a racist gesture during the game against Korea. #smh pic.twitter.com/d9GVlbYKB1
— Steve Han (@RealSteveScores) November 10, 2017
Expecting a lengthy ban for Colombia’s Edwin Cardona after this gesture towards a South Korean player... pic.twitter.com/T5PZ7RM0dc
— Escojar (@Escojar) November 10, 2017
everyone out here talking about Edwin Cardona's racist gesture but no one is talking about James' terrible dive. For shame James! pic.twitter.com/BiuBk7sdO0
— Back To Blazers (@palmquac) November 10, 2017
Cardona tried to plug the criticism in a video posted on the Colombian team's Twitter account, "As regards to what happened today, it was not my intention to disrespect anybody, or a country or race, but if anybody interpreted it that way, I am sorry."
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the Colombian soccer association "sincerely apologized" over the incident to the team.
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