Mauricio Taricco, a former Premier League defender who played for Tottenham and Ipswich, has been suspended for five games by the K League after being found guilty of making a racist gesture towards a referee.
The 52 year old Argentine is currently the assistant coach to Gus Poyet at Jeonbuk, the reigning champions of South Korea’s top division.
The incident occurred earlier this month after Taricco angrily protested a penalty decision. He argued that his team should have been awarded a penalty for a handball before referee Kim Woo seong sent him off. Witnesses reported that Taricco then shouted the Spanish word for racist at the referee and pulled the corners of his eyes back with his fingers.
Referee Kim submitted a report to the K League disciplinary committee, which later ruled that Taricco’s gesture amounted to racist behaviour. The league noted that the action is widely known around the world as a derogatory gesture and is similar to conduct that has led to FIFA sanctions in the past.
Taricco defended himself by claiming he had only been pointing at his eyes to question whether the referee saw the handball clearly. However, the K League rejected his explanation and insisted that the gesture did not match his claim, stressing that discriminatory conduct is unacceptable within the league.
In addition to the five match suspension, Taricco received a fine of 20 million won which is about 13,600 dollars. The league said the punishment reflects its zero tolerance approach to racism and its commitment to maintaining professionalism in South Korean football.
Taricco joined Jeonbuk earlier this year when Gus Poyet was appointed manager. The coaching duo have a long working history together in England, Greece, Spain, China and France. Jeonbuk recently secured their tenth league title under Poyet’s leadership.
