Tottenham Hotspur captain Mauricio Taricco has found himself at the center of a huge scandal in New Korea, which calls for the club to be withdrawn from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors before the decision is made..

The 52-year-old Argentinean, who worked as an assistant to head coach Gustavo Poet, was punished by the Disciplinary Committee of the K-League for two hours in the championship match.

The situation came to a head at injury time when Tarikko emotionally protested against the referee’s decision, who initially did not recognize the penalty as a handball (the decision was later changed after VAR was handed in).

Having taken away the yellow card, and then the red card for the misfortune with the actions of the judge, Tarikko made a gesture, placing his fingers to the corners of his eyes. Arbitrator Kim Wu Son regarded this move as an impressive gesture against people of Asian descent.

The Disciplinary Committee supported this version, declaring that such actions were a racist gesture, and issued a unanimous verdict: Disqualification for 5 matches. The fine is 20 million won (about 13,600 US dollars).

The coach himself categorically denied the accusation of racism. In his statement on the website of the wine club, he explained that his gesture was incorrectly interpreted. Based on Tarikko’s words, he tried to ask the referee for his kindness in the episode with the broken rules.

" “I’m just closing my eyes to say out loud that the judge Mav bi bezpredno bachit with his hand,” said the Argentinean.

Tarikko voted on what to deprive Pivdennaya Korea after the end of the season. The Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors club came to the defense of its coach, calling the charges unjustified and such that they ignore the context, but the appeal was rejected by the league.

Despite the scandal, the season was successful for the club - the team won its 10th K-League title.