Akin Ayomide
Former Premier League defender Mauricio Taricco has been suspended for five games after making a racist gesture towards a referee in South Korea.
The 52-year-old Argentine, now an assistant to manager Gus Poyet at South Korean champions Jeonbuk, was found by K League officials to have made a “slant-eye” gesture earlier this month.
Taricco was sent off by referee Kim Woo-seong after the former Ipswich and Tottenham player argued that his team should have been awarded a penalty for handball.
He then reportedly shouted the Spanish word for “racist” at the referee before putting his fingers to his eyes and pulling them back.
The referee reported the gesture to the K League disciplinary committee, which ruled that Taricco’s “actions constituted racist behaviour”.
“(The committee) noted that such a gesture is widely recognised across cultures as derogatory towards people of a particular race and matches actions that have previously led to FIFA sanctions,” the K League said in a statement on Wednesday.
The league said that Taricco had claimed “he was merely pointing to his eyes to question whether the referee had seen the handball foul”.
The K League rejected Taricco’s argument and he was also fined 20 million won ($13,600).
Jeonbuk were crowned this season’s first-division champions, becoming the first team to win the title 10 times.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder Poyet took over as manager at the start of the year, bringing his long-time assistant Taricco with him.
The pair previously worked together in England, Greece, Spain, China and France.