FIFA and almost every soccer governing body try to evade any politics from the game, and that is why whenever something like a political protest happens on the field, governing body punishes the responsible. In London Olympics, Jongwoo Park, South Korea player celebrated his team’s bronze medal by displaying a banner bearing “Dokdo is our territory.” More importantly, South Korea defeated Japan to win its medal, and it has been a decades old dispute between two countries over Dokdo. So, it was taken as a prohibited protest whereby FIFA and IOC banned the player for two matches and reminded Korean Football Associated “of its obligation to properly instruct its players.” Additionally, player has also been slapped with 3,500 Swiss francs fine for warming diplomatic spat between two countries. However, during the disciplinary proceedings against him, he said that the banner was not brought in by him; perhaps he picked up a thrown banner from the crowd. Even then, FIFA found it in violation of article 57 of the FIFA disciplinary code read with article 18 of the Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments London 2012.
FIFA issued a statement that reads as, “The Committee took into account that the behaviour of the player, even though it appears not to have been premeditated or intentional, contradicts the principal idea and goal of sportsmanship and fair play, and therefore, cannot be tolerated.” Moreover, since his bronze medal was not awarded to him due to his protest, FIFA is also considering forfeiting his medal. FIFA also issued a warning to Korea FA that reads as, “Should incidents of such nature occur again in the future, the FIFA disciplinary committee may impose harsher sanctions on the Korea FA.”
Now, after weeks of the controversy, Jong-woo was called by senior national team to play world cup qualifiers, but since he is facing two matches’ ban, he would not play in two Korean home fixtures, i.e., against Qatar on March 26 and at Lebanon on June 4. South Korea and Japan have long been sharing tensed relations about Dokdo, and that is why when Korean President visited the disputed place, Japan recalled its ambassador from Seoul, and its Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba quoted this trip “incomprehensible.” So, at the moment, FIFA manages to stay away from any political stand as far any dispute in any part of the world is concerned, moreover, it’s also the players who use soccer’s global reach to show their protests over various issues. Anyways, let us concentrate over soccer only!