Ki Sung-Yeung caused outrage when he celebrated his goal against Japan by impersonating a monkey - which the Japanese were outraged by as there is a history between Korea and Japan...BBC website

But, alas, it was not aimed at Japan, but at the racist treatment he gets in Scotland where people make monkey sounds at him. Funny, i've not heard of this before - I wonder why it wasn't reported? I think we take racism in the game quite seriously as a problem so i'd be keen for the SFA to contact him and ask him where and when this happened. Bit of a Mark Wright?

If he is receiving this kind of treatment then it should be highlighted and stamped upon. The "Show Racism the Red Card" movement/group are very high visibility in Scottish Football (rightly so) and I would have thought awareness should be getting through even the most neanderthal of skulls by now !!!

Only today there was a report in the HN about a Rangers fan banned from all grounds for 18 months for uttering the phrase "We hate Celtic Fenian B*******" at an ICT - Rangers match. If we can catch and prosecute a single individual for this kind of shout then surely we can identify and arrest/remove individuals making 'monkey chants' or anything else that is truly offensive towards the player(s) to whom it is directed.

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/8705/Sectarian_abuse_fan_banned.html

One question I did have though, and this is a genuine question that popped into my head when reading the link .... I have never really associated the far east with monkeys? So why would fans go there with those sounds?

Is it something to do with the bad martial arts TV series of that name from many years ago or something else? The animals, or at least the most popular species of them like Chimpanzees, Gorillas and OrangUtans - in my mind - are more closely identified with Africa. I know there are species of monkeys indigenous to most continents, but ask anyone "where do monkeys come from?" and 99% will answer 'Africa'. I have only ever heard of the monkey chants and banana throwing directed towards black players and thought that we had largely managed to stamp out that outrageous behaviour in our game but if we are now extending it to Asian players then clearly we need to work harder on the racists and racism .....

I think the point Kirishima is making is that the player has never endured any such treatment whatsoever in Scotland and this explanation has been fabricated to defuse a potential situation with their old enemy Japan.

Anyway, the centuries of hostilities between the Koreans and Japanese continue, and apparently it's all because they just can't say sorry.

I just wonder why in the semi-final of the Asian Cup after scoring a goal he would celebrate by imitating a monkey?

In answer to Scotty's question, it is based I believe on what some link to appearance, and how some Japanese I know see themselves,and will joke about it themselves in a self-deprecating way, and don't take it too seriously. It can be an insult and many Koreans are very anti-Japan. Whether 2 and 2 makes 4 in this case I dunno.

I'm not sure why he did it, I find either explanation a bit unpalatable, if he has been subjected to racism here, I would have thought we'd have heard of this, as you said, racism is now very frowned upon and a rarity now, and Neil Lennon is hardly one to hush up incidents, is he? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but there's no evidence I can see that it did either...

Hope the SFA can look into this, as my point is, Scotland's reputation is being severely tarnished in Asia by this.

Edited January 27, 201115 yr by Kirishima

I feel he is telling a whopping great porky.

And if so should be severelly reprimanded by the SPL or SFA.

As has been said we have worked hard at kicking racism out of the game and those behind the campaigns to do so should take lies like this very seriously.

But nothing will happen about this.

I think the point Kirishima is making is that the player has never endured any such treatment whatsoever in Scotland and this explanation has been fabricated to defuse a potential situation with their old enemy Japan.

Yup, the point of Kirishima's post was not lost on me either and I tend to agree that we would have heard about it already if what he says was indeed factual.

However, on reading the article, I was giving the player the benefit of the doubt and basically thinking aloud about how much progress, if any, we have made in terms of reducing racism in football. I think we have made real progress but lets not kid ourselves, we are not rid of it yet.

If the player is not being truthful then he needs to be heavily censured ... As Kirishima says, this is tarnishing Scotland's reputation in Asia and as such is quite serious !!

My own question about monkeys was also genuine as the explanation didnt ring true to me and as I know Kirishima lives in that region, it was a real question ... If it were a black player, then given the long history of them having that specific term of abuse thrown at them over a number of years, and continuing to this day, I would immediately have thought the story genuine. However, that form of racial epithet is not one I would say would be commonly used towards an Asian player ... In my opinion, it would be more likely that any abuse would centre on the Prince Philip school of thought and refer to facial features or fast-food establishments !!!

I think we're all on the same page. The bottom line is Ki has accused Scottish fans of racism and therefore there should be an investigation. My own feeling, until other evidence is forthcoming, is he has lied to protect embarassment to his own country at the expense of ours.

If the alleged abuse was so hurtful and damging to him that he felt he needed to protest it in the Asian Cup semi-final in Qatar against Japan towards some Scottish fans he has made allegations against, surely he would have reported it at the time?

Until he can back up his claims, and why it has not been raised as an issue before now, I remain very, very sceptical. I hope thae SFA investigates.

Anyway, the centuries of hostilities between the Koreans and Japanese continue, and apparently it's all because they just can't say sorry.

:laugh:

Having the misfortune to work with quite a few ST holders for both of the ugly sisters, I;m informed some of the chants they belt out about one another's players can be pretty rotten. If he's going to make such a sweeping statement, he better back it up with evidence, names of clubs and dates when this occurred. I've never heard any racist comments directed towards him from ICT fans. Think he needs to have a word with himself.

I find the whole thing amusing. He's quite clearly a moron. He messed up, panicked, and now he's pulled a Stephen Ireland, Cheeky wee monkey. I have never heard anything racist at a football ground, or on the pitch. He didn't mention anything before, but decided the best thing to do was to tell Japan on us? Weirdo. My (Tim) friend reckons some ST Johnston fans got into crap for barking at him, but i'm not sure if that's true.

As far as monkey impressions go, it was pretty half-hearted! 4/10, could do better.

I find the whole thing amusing. He's quite clearly a moron. He messed up, panicked, and now he's pulled a Stephen Ireland, Cheeky wee monkey. I have never heard anything racist at a football ground, or on the pitch. He didn't mention anything before, but decided the best thing to do was to tell Japan on us? Weirdo. My (Tim) friend reckons some ST Johnston fans got into crap for barking at him, but i'm not sure if that's true.

Heard that too, St Johnstone it was, the club made some statement about investigating it.