South Korea’s Under-18s side have been stripped of the Panda Cup due to “indecent” celebrations, after one player posed with his foot on the trophy for a picture.
South Korea beat China ’s Under-18s 3-0 on Wednesday night to win the tournament, which also featured Thailand and New Zealand and was held in China.
But the team have been forced to issue an apology after they were stripped of the victory, with a picture of South Korean player Park Kyuhyun being shared widely on Chinese social media.
In the image, Park can be seen with his foot on top of the cup as he laughs in posing for a photograph, while his teammates are spread out around him on the pitch shortly after the trophy presentation.
The Chengdu Football Association, the tournament organisers, issued a statement to confirm that South Korea had been stripped of the trophy, with accusations made that some of the players pretended to urinate on it during their celebrations.
The FA also suggested that they will not invite South Korea back to the tournament in the future.
“The Panda Cup organising committee decided to take back the trophy won by the Korean team this time,” a statement read.
“Teams and players who violate sports ethics and spirit are not welcome to participate.”
The team issued an apology video in which they appeared together with their heads bowed, which was issued in Korean.
"We apologise for the situation. One of our players made a huge mistake. We humbly apologise to all of the fans, all of the players and all of the people in China," a team official translated.
The Korean Football Association has also sent a letter of apology to the Chengdu FA, but they have been reported to the Asian Football Confederations via an official complaint.
