



By Jung Min-ho







Chilean football player Diego Valdes has apologized after making a racist gesture to a Korean fan before a friendly match between Korea and Chile on Tuesday.





"In relation to the photography that appears in social networks, it was never my intention to offend and I offer my apologies to anyone that could have been offended," Valdes, 24, wrote on Instagram, Monday.





The statement comes after he made a slant-eye gesture when posing for a picture with a fan near Suwon Station on Sunday.





"I asked Chilean football players to have a photo taken with me," the fan told Sportal Korea, a local football media outlet. "I did not know he made that gesture, which I found later."





Thousands of Koreans have criticized Valdes' behavior on social media. Some have urged the Korea Football Association (KFA) to demand an apology from him, his coach and the Football Federation of Chile.





"If they do not apologize, we should boycott the game," one petition said on the Cheong Wa Dae website. "It is wrong to look down on some people just because they are Asians. If the KFA does not act quickly, the government should do so."





Another petitioner said the Chilean football team should be kicked out of Korea.





"What kind of national football player would make a racist gesture against the people of the country his team is about to have a friendly match with?" the petitioner wrote. "They all should be kicked out immediately. I am so angry now."

