K League Racism Victim Sasalrak: "I Am Proud of Myself"

"Know That There Are People Who Love and Wait for Me"
Ulsan Hyundai Players Seem to Have Considered Racist Conversations

Thai national team player Sasalak Haipprakon, who was subjected to racial discrimination by Ulsan Hyundai players in the professional football K League 1, has directly expressed his feelings.

The family is all waiting together to watch their match, a photo Sasallak shared on his SNS in 2021.
[Photo by Sasallak SNS capture]

On the 12th, Sasalak wrote on Facebook, "I have received a lot of criticism to get to this point, but I did not care about those people. Because I know there are many people who love and wait for me," adding, "Only these people know what I am fighting for and are proud of me."

He continued, "I have never said myself that I have done well so far, but I am proud of myself for fighting until today," and said, "Thank you to me and my fans. This is enough for me."

Sasalak (left) and Park Ji-sung
[Photo by Sasalak SNS capture]

Although Sasalak did not directly mention the racial discrimination incident, he posted a photo that appears to show his family supporting him wearing a Jeonbuk uniform in his hometown, which is presumed to express his feelings about the recent racial discrimination incident through this post.

Sasalak is a Thai national team football player who played for Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2021. At that time, Sasalak played in two regular league matches and returned to the Thai league after six months.

Ulsan Hyundai Players Draw Criticism for Racially Discriminatory Remarks on SNS

Recently, Ulsan players sparked controversy by making racially discriminatory remarks referring to Sasalak during conversations in Instagram comments.

On the 10th, they left praise comments for Lee Myung-jae, who performed well against Jeju United in the 18th round match of K League 1.

During this, some players left comments on Lee Myung-jae’s photo such as "Southeast Asia quota is reliable," "Sasalak’s form is crazy," and "Sasalak’s super tackle." It is presumed that they compared Lee Myung-jae’s dark skin tone to Thai player Sasalak.

When this post sparked public outrage, Lee Myung-jae deleted the post. Also, Park Yong-woo, who directly mentioned Sasalak’s name, apologized, saying, "I am sorry to player Sasalak, all fans, and those around who were hurt by my careless words comparing a teammate’s playing style and appearance."

The Ulsan club also issued an apology statement and promised to take measures to prevent recurrence, including holding an internal disciplinary committee and providing education for all club members.

The Korea Professional Football League will review the report submitted by Ulsan and decide whether to hold a disciplinary committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.