South Korean Side Apologise for Filling Stands With 'Sex Dolls' Cos 2020 Wasn't Weird Enough Already
By Ali Rampling
How do you compensate for the lack of fans in behind closed doors fixtures?
It's one of the many challenges facing the football industry due to the coronavirus outbreak, but we don't think 'Project Restart' will be following the trail blazed by FC Seoul.
The South Korean side have been forced to apologise after being accused of using sex dolls in the stands as replacement fans.
Sports clubs are trying different ways to make up for the lack of crowds in the stadium.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 18, 2020
But not too many will be rushing to copy FC Seoul's example.
Here's why: https://t.co/4eBAylxQ2P pic.twitter.com/lR7lEcacvV
According to BBC News, ahead of FC Seoul's first home K League fixture of the season, a company called Dalcom offered to fill some of the empty seats with a selection of mannequins.
The club took up their kind offer, only to be informed by fans watching online that the mannequins looked suspiciously like sex dolls.
FC Seoul claimed they were actually 'premium mannequins', but conceded they were sourced from a sex toy supplier.
2016 K League winners FC Seoul inadvertently used sex dolls rather than fashion mannequins to help fill empty stands this weekend. The club has apologised. Both the club and the supplier are pointing fingers at others. (It's not just COVID-19 you need to avoid catching!) #kleague pic.twitter.com/59rSU8XxYL
— Devon Rowcliffe (@WhoAteTheSquid) May 17, 2020
A 30 premium mannequin strong crowd watched Seoul register their first win of the season, beating Gwangju FC 1-0.
Two of the mannequins were male, and 28 female. Glass ceiling well and truly smashed.
Some mannequins were holding signs and wearing t-shirts advertising x-rated websites, despite pornography being banned in South Korea.
Come on, know your audience.
FC Seoul official Lee Ji-hoon told the BBC they had not done a background check on Dalcom, and were unaware that they worked in the sex industry.
A statement released on the club's official Facebook page [via the Daily Mail] read: "We are sincerely sorry for causing deep concern to fans.
"We have confirmed from the very beginning that they had no connection to sex toys. Our intention from the start was to provide even a small entertainment after it was decided that the games would be hosted behind closed doors due to coronavirus.
"Regardless of that, we would like to apologise once again to everyone who loves and supports FC Seoul. We will be holding further discussions on how we can review potential problems in similar matters. We will put forth our due diligence to prevent such issues in the future."
All mannequins were wearing face masks and adhering to social distancing guidelines.